Miss Haruno
by Madame Mayhem
Summary: Dying once never exactly meant an untimely end, especially if you were reborn into the universe of an anime. More specifically, into the body of said anime's pink haired heroine. But then you just get a crap ton of troubles, and they don't seem to get any easier. Self-Insert OC/Reborn into Sakura. Romance in later chapters.
1. Chapter one: Sakura Haruno

**Author's Note:** I really shouldn't be publishing anything right now, but I couldn't resist making a self-insert story (they're lyk _all _the rage right now). I know I'm not the first to do it this way, but I figured I'd take a crack at it. Hope you enjoy this roller coster ride.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

* * *

**Chapter One**

_Sakura Haruno_

* * *

She had been in such a hurry, and the worst part was that she couldn't even remember where she had been going. _'Remember to look both ways!' _She remembered her friend warning her.

_'I'm a grown ass woman!' _She remembered saying back. Then low and behold, not even one second later, she got run over like a dumbass. That was a pretty lame ass way to die, that's how stray animals go.

She wasn't a fucking animal, much less a homeless one.

Not only was it dumb, it hurt like a bitch. The pain was only for a mere second, then it was like she fell asleep. And when she woke up? Well... the only word that could describe what she was feeling, was total and utter confusion.

She was wrapped up in a soft, white blanket and was in the arms of a pretty cartoonish looking woman. Who was staring down at her sweetly, making cooing noises and kissey faces. She actually looked kind of familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Her confusion only hightened when the woman began to speak, she couldn't understand shit. But she did know it was Japanese, she's watched enough anime to at least know the language when she heard it.

But hold on one minute... was she in Japan? What the heck was she doing in _Japan_?! She just got hit by a car, why wasn't she in a damn hospital?!

Then her mind clicked back to the woman, when she remembered an earlier thought.

_Cartoonish_

And by 'cartoonish', she more specifically meant an anime sort of cartoonish. But normal people didn't look like this, not even the Japanese. Which made her suspect that she wasn't in Japan, like she previously thought.

So then where was she? And why the hell did this woman look so damn familiar? That was when the woman turned her attention to someone else, and that someone leaned over to closely look her in the face.

That's when she gasped a little, or what was close to a gasp. She recognized that starfish hair anywhere. She was looking at Kizashi, Kizashi Haruno...

That was why the woman looked so familiar, she was his wife Mebuki. They were both characters from one of her favorite animes, Naruto. Not only that, but they were Sakura's parents.

Which brings back the question she's been asking herself since she woke up. What the_heck _is going on?!

She tried to speak, tried to demand an explanation from the both of them. But all that came out were gurgles and baby coos, okay now exactly what was up with that?! Mebuki and Kizashi both looked down at her and smiled, laughing as Kizashi said something to his wife. Something she yet again didn't understand.

But if she had to guess, it was something about her. Probably something about how cute that she was.

She listened to them go back and forth in conversation, hearing numerous names leave their mouths. Which lead her to wonder who all those different people were.

Then, Mebuki gasped. Hurriedly saying something to Kizashi, before looking back down her. Then she smiled, uttering a single name that caught her by surprise.

_"Sakura"_

She... just called her Sakura. No, she just_named _her Sakura. She was in the arms of Mebuki, because she was her mother. She couldn't understand them, or even talk for that matter, because she was only an infant. No matter how hard she tried, what she wanted to say wouldn't come out until her vocals were fully coordinated and working.

She was Sakura Haruno, either that or her mind was playing an evil trick on her. Purposely putting this illusion into her head, because certainly people were not just put into an _anime_. Something that came from the imagination of another individual, that just sounded pretty fucking ridiculous. So of course this had to be some type of result of her possibly being put into a coma. At least she hoped, but there was the standing chance that it wasn't.

She didn't know how she felt about this, she was getting mixed feelings. She thought of her being within an anime was a tad, for lack of a better word, cool. Yet at the same time this shit was just insane, and part of her just didn't want to be here. She was sure she wasn't _that _bad of a person, sure she could be a real bitch. Tons of people could, but for Lord's _sake_ she had a heart!

She never broke any laws, never stole, she knew how to be nice, she damn sure never killed anyone. So why would she be sent to this hell? However she was thankfully born in Konoha, basically the nicest village in all the nations, to a seemingly nice family - too bad Kishimoto didn't show them that often - so she probably shouldn't be complaining. She could've ended up in a much worse place.

Like Kirigakure for example, it was nicknamed the "Bloody mist" for a reason.

But then there was a question she asked herself, _if_ this was in fact real then why her? Was she the only one who was reincarnated here? She wasn't exactly anything special, she was just... your average joe, you know?

She had a simple job, went to college, and a lot of the time blended in. To the point where you didn't even notice her, if she was quiet that is. She had only a small circle of friends, and not much family. So exactly whose great idea was it to send her here? This was either some type of mistake, or somebody out there thought this shit was funny.

Somehow she was leaning towards the latter.

Stuff like this usually only happened in stories. Even movies, this was nearly the reverse of what happened in that one movie Enchanted. So it was actually still a little hard to believe, this setting took place within a manga. You saw it on TV, it was suppose to be fictional. _Unreal_, so the conclusion that this was just some dream had to have been true. Right?

But then there was another question she had to ask herself, what if this wasn't a dream? ... If this wasn't a dream, then she was pretty much screwed. The real world wasn't a perfectly safe place, of course, but up until her accident she had lived a pretty much normal and danger free life.

If this in fact was real, then that would mean she was just put into a world - a _ninja _world - where safety only came to you if you were lucky. It was just this wildly dangerous place where even people who appeared to be harmless could still be ruthless killers, or at the very least a lot more dangerous than they seem to be.

Just look at Haku.

Okay, so she wasn't confused anymore. Now she was starting to get scared, and her fear was growing every second the more she thought of her situation. Eventually it got so great, that she reacted in the only way that she could in her current state. By crying her little ass off. It was weird for her, since she basically had the mind of a twenty-two year old. But, she had to blame it on her new infant instinct.

Mebuki and Kizashi had been shocked by her sudden wailing, she was so calm just a second ago. Kizashi said something, then began to laugh. Then Mebuki scoffed and raised her voice at him, Making him stop immediately and sulk.

He most likely cracked some dumb joke, but "Sakura" couldn't give much of a care about that. There were bigger things to worry about.

Mebuki lifted her up a little more and began to pat her back, saying something to her. With no clue what it had been, it was pretty soothing. So it made her calm down a little, and she was now crying more quietly. With some sniffles and hiccups now and then. She wasn't one for crying, but for now that was the only way she could react to most things. Like the needs she wouldn't be able to fulfill herself, her eating and toilet needs, and basically any form of discomfort.

She was no longer- well, her name was of no importance anymore. She was now Sakura Haruno, and she'd somehow just been born into the universe of an anime.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Sakura was now six years old, and would soon be starting ninja academy today. Opening the door that would soon lead her into the canon timeline. Not only that, but it would for once take her out of her sheltered lifestyle and she would interact with people here own age.

Up until now, she only ever had her "parents" around her to socialize with. It wasn't the worst thing ever, but she could now see why the original Sakura was so shy and reserved in her youth. It was pretty weird, especially for about most of the first year of her life. She wouldn't lie, she didn't act like the best daughter out there towards them.

She from time to time would keep her distance from them when she had the chance to, and sometimes even cried when they touched her. At first she hadn't even liked calling them mom and dad, if she had the balls to she probably would've called them "person one" and "person two". One would say that her overall treatment of them wasn't very good. It was just, _weird_.

She wasn't the real Sakura, yet at the very same time she was. Now she was _certain_ someone made a mistake, she was probably a lot different from the original Sakura.

Sure they weren't her real parents, or at least not the ones that she use to know. Though, she began to feel bad when she saw how upset they would get from her behavior. They might not have been the parents that she knew first, but they _did _put in the effort to make sure she grew up in a loving home. So she then decided to put in a greater effort to show them the love she was _suppose _to. And eventually, she grew a great attachment to them. After that, she was immensely easier to deal with. She didn't cry as much, and didn't give her parents as much of a rough time.

She didn't _love _them like a child was suppose to per say, her father's retarded jokes got on her damn nerves sometimes - as well as Mebuki's, but it was a great way to start. She'd try a bit harder.

It was still pretty freaking weird that she was in Sakura's body, _and _that she was in an anime, she hadn't even believed in reincarnation before this. She thought once you were dead you lived a never ending afterlife, and whether you went up or down below depended. But there was no use worrying about it, it was clear that she would be stuck this way.

She sat in front of the school with the other students, her parents stood in the back with the others, as she listened to the Hokage's speech. About the will of fire and how they were the future of Konoha. It was obvious that he did this constantly, she wondered if he gave the exact same speech every time.

But instead of continuing to listen to Hiruzen speak, she thought about the future. It would be awhile until the canon timeline began, and once it did she had one of two options. She could either,

A, let everything happen the way it was suppose to.

Or

B, change what she can and make sure things don't turn out as bad as they are in canon.

B was sounding pretty good right now, but she'd worry about that later. What she had to focus on right now, was ensuring her spot on Team Seven. If she was to go with either plan, then that was what had to be done.

Naruto was undoubtedly the worst student in their class, with the worst grades as well as performance. He was paired with Sasuke, because he was the best in the whole school. He would have the best performance scores by the time they all graduated no doubt. Then there was her.

The original Sakura had the best test scores out of everyone in class. She was a straight-A honorary student, and her vast intelligence was what go her in. Creating a perfectly balanced team.

However, because Sakura only focused on her grades, she did very poorly in performance. Which was what led to her uselessness when the team was first formed. She didn't want that to happen again, so this time she'd change that. And actually try to focus on both.

However, that also ran the risk of not being as educated in the ninja arts as she was suppose to be. If that happened, there was a chance she wouldn't be put on the team. So, instead she'd have to figure out a way to learn all that the original Sakura did while still knowing enough to be useful in battle.

It was settled then, bring it on.

Once the Hokage's introduction was over and the classes were put together, the parents were free to go home. After getting a hug and kiss from Mebuki and Kizashi, Sakura followed Iruka and the rest of her class inside the building.

By the time their lunch break rolled around, it had been absolute hell. The girl she recognized as Sakura's common bully, Ami, and her goons started their teasing assault on her as soon as she'd stepped outside.

"Look out for that forehead!"

"Who actually has pink hair? It looks _so_ stupid!"

"Are those clothes or rags?"

"I never thought someone could be so ugly."

She knew Sakura's bullies had to be pretty mean, but they were just _horrible_. Worst part is, she didn't know what started it. Sakura did have a farely large forhead, sure, and her light pink hair made her stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe they did because she looked too different.

They made fun of every possible thing that they could, and it was getting on her last damn nerve. She quickly turned around, glaring daggers at them. "Shut the fuck up!" She shouted. Her cursing habit was to blame on her adult mind. Mebuki heard her one time and immediately started to yell at Kizashi, assuming that she'd heard such words from him.

Poor man, didn't even understand what he did wrong.

_'Young ladies mustn't **ever **use words like that! Do you hear Sakura?!' _Was what she scolded, after she was done with Kizashi.

She wouldn't talk like that in front of her parents, but guess what. Her fucking parents weren't here.

Ami gasped in surprise, most likely because Sakura cursed at her, then scoffed. "Giant forehead _and _a bark? So you're a dog now? Huh?" Ami walked up to her and jabbed her in the forehead. "Huh, poochie?"

Sakura sighed when they all started barking at her, her first change in the show... was giving bullies another name to call her.

Just great.

"I'm _not _a dog!" She said back, and they all laughed. Sakura clenched her little fists and turned to walk away. And they followed, continuing their barking and name calling.

She sighed.

She'd just love to say that what they were doing wasn't affecting her, that she just didn't care. But truth be told she kinda did, and it was starting to hurt. Hell, now she was beginning to feel a little self-conscious.

She was just an ordinary student who no one really knew, so she could see that they wouldn't leave her alone no matter what she said. She remembered how Sakura's bullies left her alone originally.

Which was why she'd have to try to make friends with Ino as soon as she could.

Hopefully shit would actually go her way in this world.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Why I had the urge to write a self-insert fic, the mother of all evil, I will never fully understand. My mind demanded it, now look. I actually fucking wrote it, can you believe that? I guess seeing it around this archive so much made me want to do it... huh.

Sorry if you're someone who doesn't like cursing, but there's gonna be a lot of that up in here. It's because I myself am a potty mouth. I would make a joke and say "I just don't know better", but I'm almost nineteen fucking years old.

That shit wouldn't be funny.

This was sort of like a prologue, hence the majority of narration and so little dialogue.

What I really hope, is that I don't hit too many cliches that these fabrications usually do. Wish me luck you guys... -sigh-

_Review please, it motivates me!_

**Chapter edited: March 11, 2014 **(and now I'm at least a little happier with how this looks, special thank you to Beatrix Hart)


	2. Chapter two: Friends

**Author's Note: **I was gonna make this story serious at first, but then I changed my mind and said I'd make it a total joke. But now, I think I'll just make it sorta both. 60/40, you know?

Thank you everyone who favorite/followed and reviewed. And, I gotta say, I've never gotten this many favs/follows after just one chapter. Seriously, thank you!

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto _

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Friends_

* * *

She was at first gonna let the timeline run it's course, wait it out until she finally met Ino. But there were some problems with that plan. The first being that she didn't freaking know _when _her and Sakura originally met. She knew they met in a park, or something of that nature. Which park?

Well, damn, she didn't know that either.

Sakura sighed, _'I'm so stupid...' _she thought to herself. _'How in the_ _**hell** did I think it would work like that?' _

It's been about a week and a half since Academy began, and things were still the same as ever. Well, now it looked like she would just have to introduce herself to Ino herself. Which would probably be a little hard on her part.

She wasn't one to just willingly walk up to people and start talking, what if they didn't want to talk to her? Not that Ino, the little social butterfly, would do that, hell she'd probably welcome it. But even still, she felt kind of awkward doing that.

She'd probably be with a little group of her own anyway, plus it wasn't like she'd know what to say anyway. So it would be easier on her part if Ino just said something to her first, at least then she could try and carry on the conversation.

Though, for the time being, there was probably little chance of that. Ino barely noticed her, and that was a little ironic. Since they were in the same class that is, and she definitely looked a little bit different from most.

Sakura sighed as she walked into the classroom, stopping just in front of the door. It was still a bit early, so there weren't that many kids around. She took the time to look at the other students, from Sasuke, to Hinata, to Shikamaru, to Naruto, and so on.

Now that she really thought about it, she hadn't even attempted to talk to _any _of the nine rookies. Much less Ino.

Damn, she couldn't have actually been _that _introverted. Could she? She usually sat up in the highest row, in the corner. Then she'd sink a little in her seat, that was only to avoid possibly drawing attention to herself.

Yeah, she probably was if that was the case.

You don't make friends doing stuff like that, and not having friends was lonely as hell.

And it was especially frustrating, when having people like Ami on your back almost everyday.

With that in mind, instead of heading over to her usual seat, she walking over to the always empty spot that was next to Naruto. Plopping right down next to him and catching his attention.

She felt him staring, and it made her feel a little uncomfortable. Even though she knew he was probably only a little surprised by her closeness to him, people usually avoided him, it still felt weird. She was never exactly fond of being stared at, she found it to be a little disturbing.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and saw him immediately turn away from her. Looking at his part of the desk. She turned to him fully this time, and cleared her throat a little. This made him look at her again, never keeping complete eye contact with her.

This was nothing like the twelve year old Naruto she remembered from part one, but he was a kid right now. Obviously it wasn't the same, he was a bit of a different person then.

"Uh..." She started, looking down a little. "H-Hi?" She tried to greet, feeling nervous. She mentally sighed, _'Bloody fucking hell,' _She thought, _'What's wrong with me?! I can't even say **hello**__?! I'm a mess!' _

He didn't respond at first, he was still registering the fact that someone was _actually _trying to speak to him. He was use to being ignored, "... Um... hey..."

Well, at least he said something back. "Y-your name's Naruto... right?" She said, messing with some strands of her hair. A nervous habit she always had.

He slowly nodded, "... Yeah." Even though he was speaking back to her, she could catch the hint of hesitance within his voice. He probably assumed she was up to something, that no one would actually pay any knind of attention to him unless they were plotting something.

"Well, um... I'm Sakura..." Oh God, that just sounded so lame. She could have face-palmed at that, he nodded again.

"Okay," He said, "Well, no offense or anything Sakura... but why are you talking to me?" And that definitely just made it feel a little more awkward for her.

_'Well that makes me feel more confident.' _She sarcastically thought, then shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, you just... just looked lonely."

"Oh," He said, looking away for a second. He wasn't surprised, he probably _always_ looked like that. "Okay..." He trailed, and that appeared to be the end of the conversation. And Sakura looked down at her desk. Well, that just went great. You could barely even call that a conversation.

Then, to her surprise, he spoke again a minute later. "I... I like your hair." He said, a tint of pink on his cheeks. "It's a pretty color," He looked over at her again, the corners of his lips twitching into the smallest smile. "Can I, maybe, call you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura_-chan_? So... that meant he wanted to be friends? Sakura smiled, "Thanks," She said, running a hand down her hair. "Only if I can call you Naruto-kun," Mebuki did tell her how important and polite it was to use honorifics, after all.

His smile brightened, then he quickly nodded. "A-Alright then, Sakura-chan!" She smiled a little wider, that wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Now she's befriended her hopefully future teammate. Plus, from what she could tell, Naruto was a wonderful person, so the treatment that he got from other people was pretty damn unfair.

She could understand that they were afraid of Kurama, the Nine-Tails incident was terrifying when you were actually there to see it in person after all. Watching it on TV or reading it in the Manga was absolutely nothing. It was chaos, a lot of people died. There are a lot of families that would never be the same again.

But, that didn't mean they had to look at Naruto as if he were Kurama _himself_. They might have just been afraid of what's inside of him, but how often could that be used as an excuse? It wasn't like the guy was dangerous, he was a fucking kid.

"Okay then, Naruto-kun."

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Later, during their break, Sakura chose to spend her lunchtime with Naruto. Not that she had options anyway, but she just wanted to get to know him first hand. There was probably a little more to him than the Manga ever showed.

Now that he was a little more acquainted with her, he was also a little more open than before. He was acting a little awkward himself, still not completely use to socializing with someone, but Sakura could see that he was gradually opening up.

Slowly, but indeed gradually.

Some of the other kids that were around, threw them weird looks. They weren't nasty, no nothing like that. If anything, they seemed a little confused.

Most children were quick to ignore you if you were different, if you were a piece of a puzzle that didn't seem to fit anywhere. Naruto fit in that category, and at the moment Sakura did too. So to some of the others, it was no surprise that they were with each other.

Though, that would probably make room for even more teasing. Specifically from Ami, and it did.

"Well, well, what have we got _here_?" Ami said, as her and her friends walked up to Sakura and Naruto. When Sakura turned around, Ami flicked her on her forehead. Making her wince and rub the spot, as she glared at her. "It's forehead pooch, and her ugly bangs. That do nothing to hide that billboard." She joked, then her friends barked a few times.

"What the hell do _you_ want?" She bitterly asked.

Ami smirked, "Well the second I saw this," She pointed at the duo, "I just _had_ to come over." She crossed her arms, closing her eyes. "So, you seriously have to talk to the biggest loser in school to make a friend? Talk about desperate, you're better off being alone."

"What do you know huh?" Sakura asked, then narrowed her eyes. "Naruto-kun is _not_ a loser!"

Ami scoffed, "Please, I wasn't talking about him." She said, smugly. "He can do way better than you, who wants a giant foreheaded _dog_ as a friend?" She asked, then they all began to laugh.

Sakura's cheeks turned a tint of red, in a mix of embarrassment and anger. God, it seemed like no matter what she did, she wouldn't leave her alone.

"You shut up!" Naruto yelled, catching them all a little by surprise. "Don't talk to Sakura-chan that way, who do you think you are?!" He pointed at them, "_You're_ the losers!"

Ami glared at him, "Oh, shut up Naruto. No one asked for your input," She waved him off, "Go sit on a swing or something, all alone like you belong. You friendless dork."

"I'm not friendless!" He shouted, "Sakura-chan is my friend."

"That's the same as being friendless, stupid!" Ami said, and her friends started to laugh again. "I don't even know why you try Sakura, if this is the best you can do then you're outta luck." She said, shrugging, "You just dug your own social grave."

"Messing with people again Ami?" A new voice said, walking up to the group. Sakura gasped when she saw who it was. Ino crossed her arms, "Do you seriously have nothing better to do with your time? Leave her alone."

"Why would you care? She's just some loser." Ino leaned to the side, cocking an eyebrow as she sized Sakura. Then she scoffed.

"She doesn't look like a loser." She leaned back, "You obviously have some kind of eye problem, if _that's_ what you really see."

Ami narrowed her eyes, "Ha ha," She sarcastically retorted, "Since when do you defend dorks?"

"She isn't a dork either," She said, "And I started when I saw your mug over here. I bet I know what your problem is Ami."

"And just what would that be, Ino?" She asked, and Ino smirked.

"I bet you're just jealous of her, she's cuter than you after all." Ami's eyes widened.

"Jealous?! Of that?!" She exclaimed, pointing at Sakura. Who in turned glared at her, for calling her 'that'. "Please, don't make me laugh!"

"It's true," Ino casually said, shrugging. "You are, I mean her hair is cute and pink for one thing." She pointed out, "And yours is just all choppy and purple, talk about ew." She said, as she pretended to shudder.

Ami gasped, then gritted her teeth. "How could you- what- why you little-"

"What was that?" Ino said, putting a hand to her ear. "Can you say that in Japanese? I don't speak stupid." Ino's words were child level, but at their age that was really good. It was very affective, proven when Ami walked off with a huff. Muttering to herself, with her 'posse' right behind her.

Ino giggled in accomplishment, as she watched them storm off. Then, she turned back to Sakura with a smile. "I've seen her messing with you a few times," No surprise there, who hasn't. "Don't worry about her though, as long as I'm around she'll leave you alone." She smiled, crossing her arms as she held her head up high, "She knows _better_ than to mess with me, I put her in her place."

Wow, she figured Ino must've been nice - from those flashbacks of Sakura's childhood she remembered seeing. But she never knew how fucking cool Ino actually was! Sakura was stupid for ending their friendship, who'd wanna dump a friend like her?

"Thank you," She said, but on the inside she was shouting 'hallelujah!'

"Don't mention it," She said, then leaned in a little closer to touch her forehead. "So, this is the famous forehead huh? It is pretty big." She said laughing, Sakura giving an awkward one. "But that doesn't mean you have to hide it behind these bangs, they aren't cute at _all_." She said, dropping her hand.

"Yeah, I know..." Sakura said, picking up a few strands and dropping them.

"Well, at least you do." Ino said, as she rested her hands on her waist. "Lucky for you, I can fix it. I don't have anything with me right now, but I'll bring some things with me tomorrow and do your hair first thing."

Sakura's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, that meant that she was gonna get Sakura's famous hairstyle. Which also meant she'd get her cool bangs. Damn she loved those bangs, those things were freaking awesome sauce. She smiled, "Alright, cool!"

Ino beamed, "Great!" Things were going a lot smoother than she thought they would right now, there were small changes beginning to happen already. Ino grabbed her free hand, "In the meantime, do you wanna come eat lunch with me and my friends?" She questioned, then pointed at a small group of girls. Who were staring at them from far away, "We're right over there."

Naruto had been quiet ever since Ino walked over, and he shifted his gaze to the ground as soon as Ino gave Sakura that offer. It saddened him a little, just when he thought he'd made a friend... he was being ditched for someone else.

Sakura looked back at Naruto, then to Ino. "Can Naruto-kun come?"

He'd been so quiet, she hadn't even noticed the little blonde headed boy until now. She looked behind Sakura to glance at Naruto, for the first time since she came over. She blinked, "Why?" She asked, trying not to sound rude. Sakura wasn't surprised that she asked.

Children, even Ino, could only be so accepting of others. That's just how lot of people were at this age. Talking to the wrong person would mean social suicide in most cases, but Sakura knew for a fact that Ino would never have to worry about such a thing. She could be a part of any clique she wanted as it is.

"Because, he's my new friend." She dropped Ino's hand and sat her Benton down, clasping her hands together. "C'mon Ino, _please_?" She pleaded, giving her puppy eyes, and Ino sighed.

"Uhhh..." Taking another glance at Naruto, Ino sighed. "Well... I _guess_ he can, whatever." And that was how it started.

Ino's little clique were against Naruto being near them, but she eventually eased them into letting him be. Just like Sakura thought she would, it didn't affect Ino's social life at all. Probably since she'd already been well acquainted with _many_ people.

Though, Ami would say something about it now and then. "You've changed Ino, you were seriously cool before you started hanging out with those losers."

"Like you're one to talk," She remembered Ino retorting back, "Who's the one who hangs out with the same two idiots twenty-four-seven? Drop the nasty attitude, then mabye you'll make some _real_ friends." Seemed like comebacks just came naturally to her.

The more Naruto spent time with Sakura and Ino, the more he opened up. And eventually he became the little loud and hyperactive kid that she remembered from canon. Though, he could still be shy sometimes. When it came down to Sakura.

The day Ino fixed her hair, Naruto was quick to tell her how much it brought out her face. And that she looked prettier than normal, he said so with an adorning blush on his face. It was adorable.

As months past, Sakura's bully problem eventually went away - courtesy of Ino. Not only that, but their three person group was slowly growing.

Sakura had begun to talk to Ino about Kiba, because Naruto could honestly be very tiring. As great as he was, he was just too much sometimes. And it really came off as an annoyance. At least with Kiba, the wild kid, Naruto could have someone _else_ to drain his energy with for once. The second Sakura informed her of this, she struck up conversation with Kiba ASAP. Eventually he migrated into the group, and he and Naruto immediately clicked.

Next was Shikamaru and Chouji, aka Ino's future teammates. Sakura found it would be good for the three of them to have a good relationship now, that way they'd already be bonded before they became a team.

Of course, she didn't tell it to Ino that way. She told her that they seemed pretty cool, that they wouldn't be trouble. And that they could even help in keeping both Naruto and Kiba in one spot, when the time called for it. To Ino, they were a bit on the dull side. But if her best friend liked them, then she'd give them a chance.

That's how it always went. Sakura would point them out, and the socialite blonde would walk over and do her social magic. That was their system, but it was difficult with people like Shino and Sasuke however.

Shino was always more of the loner, quiet type, so he would say as few words as possible. Then, once the conversation was ended, he'd go on his way. Ino didn't care for him much anyway, as his bugs creeped her out.

And Sasuke just brushed Ino off the first time she tried. He was more interested in being like Itachi than anything else, the only one he really talked to was Naruto. And that was just to mess with him a little sometimes.

They got Hinata to eventually tag around with them from time to time, but hell you barely ever noticed her sometimes. She was so damn quiet, not that it was a problem. She was probably just like that.

All in all, by the end of that school year, the Rookie Nine had formed together in an odd group.

* * *

**Author's Note: **So, thoughts? Feelings? What? Leave it in a review. This chapter might end up being tweaked later, if not then I'll just move on from it. Not sure if there are some things I could've added or not, or things I could've just left out.


	3. Chapter three: Graduating

**Author's Note: **You know, writting an SI fic is actually a little fun, the plot is in your control! This isn't so bad, you should give it a try!

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto _

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Graduating_

* * *

Before Sakura knew it, the years were flying by at a quick pace, far faster than she anticipated them to. All the while, she'd studied her fucking _ass_ off. She even trained as often as she could, in Taijutsu. She rathered that over Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, she was honestly better at it. She also practiced a little in weaponry, with the basic kunai, shuriken, and wire strings. Just in case she'd ever have to fight in long range. Her favorite were the explosive tags, those things could do some fucking damage.

She's studied up on Medical Ninjutsu, bringing some books to school to read in her spare time. It was one of the more important things that she had to know. It would be far too important in the future. And at least this way, when it came time for her to take on an apprenticeship with Tsunade, she wouldn't be ignorant in the skill. She would learn things much smoother this way.

She didn't know what her chakra nature was, as it was never revealed in canon, so it wasn't as if she had _that _to work on. But even if she did, element based Ninjutsu are a little more difficult to learn than basic jutsu. She was juggling enough already, she'd seriously be giving herself a run for her money if she attempted to practice that along with everything else.

Everything else was going along quiet well though, with most of the nine Rookies noticeably closer than they were in the canon timeline. Ino-Shika-Cho all got along quiet well with each other. While one didn't like something, or a few things, about another, they were friends with each other. Which was good.

Kiba claimed that while Hinata and Shino seemed like nice people, they were too reserved and quiet for his taste. They were boring and, out of everyone in the group, he much preferred Naruto. And vice-versa.

Sakura tried to coax Naruto into hanging out with Sasuke a little more, as the little Uchiha boy was warming up to the young and dysfuctional group. But, he honestly wasn't that interested. For the same excuse Kiba had, "He seems a little... boring." But of course he made the effort anyway, he did it just for Sakura.

They'd both even met his brother a few times, after school when Itachi came to pick up Sasuke. When Sasuke first introduced them, his voice held such proudness. His eyes were filled to the brim with admiration whenever he looked at his brother, and it made Sakura's heart clench every time.

She felt so bad for him, she could barely look him in the eyes sometimes. She knew something he didn't, and no matter how much she wanted to she couldn't say a word about it. How was she suppose to explain knowing the information that she did, if she was only seven at the time? She was little, and the clan massacre was something that was only shared between Danzo and Itachi.

Sasuke's entire world would be shattered in the coarse of one night, all because of the person he looked up to the most. His whole family would be gone right before his eyes, all because of his dear Itachi nii-san.

And when it did happen, his personality did a complete turn around for the worst. He was a mess, his eyes held emptiness everyday he walked into class, and he was paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't been sleeping, or even eating for that matter, and he basically looked extremely unwell. He was just the empty shell of a boy, and that was only the first of his two stages of grieving. Forget all the others, he would only go through sadness and anger.

When he wasn't upset anymore, it all turned into rage. His eyes were full of hatred, he would snap and yell at anyone who would try to speak to him. And while Sakura may have been stupid for even attempting, she was one of those people.

She didn't take his words to heart, she'd love to see the person who'd be alright after something like that, but Naruto sure did. He didn't like the way the raven haired boy raised his voice at the girl he liked. That was what started the distaste between the two boys, who at one time were slowly starting to become friends.

Eventually, Sasuke drifted away from the group. Becoming the isolated loner bent on vengeance that he originally was. Sakura hoped that he could be steered clear of that path, and maybe he could be.

Before he defected, he'd told the original Sakura that he had in fact _considered_ letting go of his revenge. But after seeing all the power that Orochimaru had to offer, and how strong Naruto was getting in such shorts amount of time, he just couldn't refuse the opportunity. She couldn't let Sasuke get swallowed by darkness, she just couldn't.

But, that was something to stress about later.

Right now, they were nearing their graduation test. Which was tomorrow, the 'make a Clone' test that Naruto would undoubtedly fail. But then learn Shadow Clone jutsu and kick Mizuki's pastey, two-faced, albino looking ass, getting him a Konohagakure Hitai-ate.

Way to go Naruto!

Where everyone was in the class shifted a little, in canon Ino was the one who came out number one in the class. But this time around, it was Sakura. She read everything that she could get her hands on, even higher level material, and it sure did come in handy. Study and train, that was all she did after school everyday. And damn did that shit pay off.

Ino instead held the number two spot, while Sasuke was at number three. The top three Rookies they were, Sakura was the best Kunoichi and Sasuke was the best Shinobi. It made him respect her a little more than the original.

And as always, Naruto was at the bottom of the barrel. The one with the worst grades and worst skill. In fact, the young blonde wasn't even in class right now.

"Hey," Shikamaru piped, looking at Sakura who sat next to him. "Do you know where Naruto-kun is?" Sakura only shrugged. She was lying of course, if she remembered correctly he was painting the stone faces.

Huh, Naruto only did pranks like that in canon to get attention. Because people ignored him so much. He actually had friends this time, so you'd think he wouldn't be running around causing mischief.

But, maybe he just liked having all the attention he could possibly have. Guess a little group of pals wasn't enough for him. Attention whore.

Ino sighed, from her spot on the other side of Sakura. "Knowing him, he's probably out doing something that's gonna get him in trouble. Is he ever gonna learn?"

"At this rate? I doubt it." Shikamaru said, resting his head in his arms.

"He might," Sakura said, making them both blink at her.

"What makes you say that? He's been doing stuff like that since we were kids." Ino said.

"Naruto-kun's full of surprises." She said with a smile, Shikamaru muttering a 'whatever'. It was at that moment, someone burst into the room.

"Iruka!" The man exclaimed, "It's Naruto, he's painted all over the stone faces!" Fucking bullseye, she hit the nail on the head.

"What?!" Iruka exclaimed, then sighed irritably. "Where is he now?"

"Still being chased around the village, we can't catch him." Iruka nodded.

"I'll get him," He said, then turned to the class. "I'll be right back everyone." He said, quickly leaving the room with the other man.

"I totally knew it," Ino said, crossing her arms. "I knew he was doing something bad, Naruto-kun's gonna get himself into some serious trouble one day."

"If he doesn't today," Shikamaru added, "He painted the Hokage faces, that's pretty serious." He had a point there, but Naruto would be fine. It was just that the entire class would have to pay the consequence with him.

When Iruka came back into the class with Naruto, he made everyone line up to practice the transformation jutsu again. Much to everyone's displeasure. It was an easy technique, easy to learn and clearly everyone could do it. Even Naruto, that just showed how simple it was.

So no one exactly liked having to practice something they already had down packed, and frankly neither did Sakura. Sasuke was first in line, ready to do the jutsu when Iruka gave the word.

"You _actually_ painted the faces..." Shikamaru trailed, smirking. "You're insane Naruto-kun."

"That's technically vandalism you know," Ino said, crossing your arms. "You're lucky you're on Lord Hokage's good side, otherwise you could've gotten into some real trouble."

Naruto smirked, putting his hands behind his head. "Aw please, What's the old geezer suppose to do to me huh?" He asked her, just as Sasuke did his transformation. Then, it was Sakura's turn.

"He's the _Hokage_, what do you think?" Ino answered.

Sakura stepped up to Iruka, and when he nodded she transformed herself into him. A perfect copy, with a 'nice job' from him, she walked to the back of the line. Getting high-fives from most of her friends, then it was Shikamaru's turn.

"Why does that matter?" He asked, "I get a scolding, then we all move on with our lives."

"Naruto-kun, you're something else." Ino sighed, "Can you at least cut the tricks this time? You've gotten yourself, and everyone else, into enough trouble today."

Shikamaru went to the back of the line, stopping next to Sakura. Then it was Naruto's turn, he looked at Ino with a smirk. "No promises," He said, with a snicker.

"Naruto-kun!" She said, but he didn't listen. He stepped up to Iruka, who sighed.

"Please, take this seriously Naruto, just do the transformation." He said, and Naruto shrugged.

"You're the boss," He said, then did the hand sign.

"You might not wanna look." Sakura said to Shikamaru, who raised an eyebrow in wonder.

"Why?"

"Just trust me," She replied, and he shrugged. Turning his gaze to the ground.

"Transform!" Naruto exclaimed, then did the jutsu. But, turned into a nude woman instead of the teacher. Clouds of smoke thankfully covering what had to be covered.

Iruka's mouth dropped quickly, as well as a few others, and there gasps. With Ino yelling out 'Naruto-kun!'.

"Hey, like my jutsu?~" Naruto asked, his voice now sounding feminine, Iruka then caught a nosebleed and Naruto turned back to normal with a laugh. "You should've seen your face!" He said, still laughing quite hard and holding his stomach. "That's my Sexy jutsu, what do you think?"

"Cut the damn tricks!" Iruka yelled when he finally recovered, "I'm not gonna warn you again!"

"How did you know he was gonna do that?" Shikamaru asked Sakura, and she shook her head.

"Because, I know him."

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Today was the day, Iruka and Mizuki were seated in the other room. One bye one, students entered and left with a Hitai-ite. The names were being called in alphabetical order, so Sakura would be the first in the 'H' group to go in.

"You nervous?" Kiba had asked her, and she waved her hand.

"This'll be a _breeze_." She answered, they only had to make two clones after all. Plus it wasn't as if this were the real graduation exam. No, the real test would be with their Jounin teacher once their teams were formed.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" He said, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"It really isn't tricky at all," Chouji said, him and Shino already passing. The headbands around their foreheads as proof. "If you can do the jutsu anyway."

Naruto fummed, of everything this was what he was the worst at. "Why couldn't the test just be a dumb transformation again?"

"Because, you'd probably just pull that 'Sexy jutsu' crap again." Ino said.

"I would not!" He argued, "C'mon Ino-chan, not if it meant me risking not becoming a ninja."

"So if it didn't, you would then?" Shino said, for the first freaking time today.

Naruto blinked, "Well... yeah." Well, at least he was being honest about it. The door opened as another student stepped out, a headband tied around her neck. Mizuki stepped out next, looking at Sakura.

"Next," He said, waving her over.

"G-good luck, Sakura-chan!" Hinata said, the others doing the same. She threw them all a thumbs up, with a smile, before entering the room.

She stood in front of both Mizuki and Iruka, looking at the many Hitai-ite that laid in front of them.

"You know the drill Sakura," Iruka said, smiling. "Just make two good clones, and you pass." She nodded, putting her hands together and forming the 'Ram' seal.

_'Clone jutsu!'_ She said in her head, it helps with concentration. Then two clones poofed up next to her, physically perfect copies.

"Very good Sakura!" Iruka said, checking off her name on his paper. The clones disappeared and she stepped closer to them. Mizuki handing her her headband.

"Congratulations, you are now a ninja of Konoha." He said, with a smile.

Sakura smiled back, "Thank you." _'You little two-faced asshole...'_ She couldn't help but dislike him, for what he was gonna do later. Yeah sure, it's because of him that Naruto passed and learned a kick-ass jutsu. But he was still fucked up for tricking him like that, then telling him he was a Nine-Tailed monster.

She left the room, Mizuki following behind her to call in the next person, with her headband in her hand. Naruto hurried up to her, "You passed Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed, clearly happy.

"I sure did!" She said as they both walked back to the group. Feeling pretty great.

"Why don't you have it on?" He asked, then she touched the ribbon that tied around her head.

"Hmmm..." She hummed. Not only did she like Sakura's bangs, she liked the way she wore her Hitai-ite. It was cute, and she wanted to wear it that way to.

But, she _also_ liked the ribbon that Ino let her have. She couldn't wear both, she looked at Naruto. "I was about to." She said, untying the ribbon and replacing it with her headband.

"So, I guess you won't be wearing that anymore, huh?" Ino asked, Sakura shrugging in responce.

"I'll find something to do with it," She said, patting her shoulder. "Don't worry." One by one, everyone else went.

And just as it was suppose to happen, Naruto failed. Once the examination was over, everyone was released. Greeted by their families when the got outside, Sasuke was the first one to hightail it our of there. Not wanting to see any of it.

Naruto sat on the tree swing, feeling defeated. As he was the only one of his year to not pass.

"Oh Sakura, my baby!" Mebuki exclaimed, crushing Sakura in a hug. "We're so proud of you!" She said, Kizashi quickly agreeing. Giving her a more gentle hug after prying her mother off of her.

"You're gonna do great from here on out," Kizashi said, ruffling her head. "But don't get so busy you've got no time for me, I still _nin-ja_ in my life." He joked, then let out a hardy laugh. "Get it? You get it?!"

"Oh God Kizashi," Mebuki said, face-palming. "That was even worse than normal!"

"What? Oh c'mon Mebuki, that was funny!" He waved her off, "Bah! You just don't get it," He nudged Sakura with his elbow. "You get it, don't you Sakura?"

"Huh?" She glanced at him, "Oh, yeah sure..." She honestly wasn't paying attention, she was looking at Naruto.

"See! At least _someone_ has a sense of humor." He said, looking at his wife. "Don't be such a stick in the mud Mebuki." He chuckled.

"Oh hush! She was _humoring_ you!"

She wished she could go over to him. She knew he'd feel better later, after he was passed by Iruka, but she hated seeing him so down.

She couldn't talk to him while her parents were here however, they'd never let her. They didn't even know he was one of her friends. If they got put on Team Seven together, then it would be out of their control.

Until then, it was just a no-go.

"So, what do you say Sakura?" Kizashi said, wrapping his arm around her.

"Wha?" She asked.

"Weren't you listening?" Mebuki questioned, "We said we were going to take you to the Shishuya to celebrate, how does that sound?"

Sakura smiled an nodded, "That sounds great Mom!" She said, then looked back in Naruto's direction. Only to see that he was now gone, just an empty swing under the oak tree.

She sighed, oh well. There was no need to worry about him, she'd see him again next week at orientation.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Trust me when I say updates are almost never gonna be this fast, I had nothing to do today and I wanted to get this chapter out. That way, I can get into the canon timeline when I update again.

On another note, what pairing would you prefer for Sakura? This isn't gonna be until later, but I just wanted to know what you guys would like to see. I'm leaning towards Naruto (my favorite), but I was thinking Sasuke or maybe Gaara to. Or would you like someone other than them? Leave a boy with your review. Until next time!


	4. Chapter four: Enter Team Seven!

**Author's Note: **And now we finally get into cannon, hoorah! So far, more people are leaning more towards GaaSaku than anything else (somehow not surprising). About two for Naruto, one Sasuke, one Lee, and sorry but no Akatsuki. A pairing like that would honestly cause complications, even if she's with Itachi. Sorry guys -sigh- no Kakashi either, they may be the same age mentally but that doesn't excuse a fourteen year age gap. Haha

You are still free to give your opinion on who you think Sakura should be paired with, because that _really _won't be until chapters to come. Have at it! And when I say 'chapters to come' I'm talking Shippuden. I was never gonna put that in the story early.

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Enter Team Seven!_

* * *

Sakura yawned as she stared at herself in the mirror, her hair looked as if it had never met a brush before. She looked like a bit of a train wreck, "This is gonna need a little work..." She trailed, twirling around some hair strands and poking at her face. Pulling on her cheek a little.

Today was the day that she waited and trained six whole years for, the day that would determine if she would be able to make any sort of beneficial change in the timeline. Without changing _too _much of course. Now that she's had all this time to think about it, the Butterfly Effect could be a serious bitch. If she just changed stuff willy nilly, the future could change to the point where canon isn't even recognizable anymore. Couldn't risk that, now could she?

Once she fixed her hair, and her face, she walked over to her closet. Pulling both the doors open, she saw the numerous quipoa dresses that were hung neatly onto hangers. She let out a breath, she wore those dresses for the last two years of her academy days. Now that she was actually going to be a ninja, she was going to be a lot more active.

While there wasn't anything _totally _wrong with the dress, she'd much prefer something she could move a bit easier in. She dug through the closet a little, tossing and moving things out of her way, until she finally found something that fit what she was thinking. She quickly threw it on.

It was a shirt and a skirt, it looked just like the dress if it were cut in two and the sleeves were shorter. The skirt was smaller so the flaps didn't go over her knees, they stopped mid-thigh, and it went up to her waist. The shirt stopping just a little bit above it, and along with it all she kept her dark green tights.

She slipped on her sandals and walked back over to her full-length mirror, picking her Hitai-ite up off of the little dresser next to her and tying it into her shoulder length hair in her normal fashion. She wasn't trying to get Sasuke to notice her, so there was no reason for her to grow it long.

And then get that shit yanked on during the Chuunin Exams? No thanks, it was gonna stay short.

She looked at the red ribbon that she left sitting there on the dresser ever since graduation and picked it up, staring at it. She said she would do something with it, but what? She thought for a short moment, then snapped her fingers with a smile. Getting an idea. She pulled it around her waist, and tied it behind her in a bow. Messing up on it a few times before she finally got it right.

She turned around and looked at it in her mirror, then gave herself a wink. "Perfect! Man am I smart or what?" She asked herself, it was then that she heard Mebuki call her from downstairs.

"Sakura! Hurry up or you'll be late for orientation!" She told her, and she sighed. Damn it, she hasn't had breakfast yet. That's what she gets for over sleeping.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going!" Sakura called back as she left her room and trotted downstairs. Mebuki stood at the door with a bento in her hand and handed it to Sakura once she was close enough.

"Have a good day, my little ninja." She said, and Sakura blushed a little.

"Oh Mom, c'mon..." She said, taking the box from her hand. Mebuki only giggled while Sakura quickly walked out the door, begining her walk to the Academy. And just like she expected, when she got closer to the Yamanaka Flower Shop she saw Ino step out.

Ino caught Sakura's pink hair from her peripheral vision, and turned to look at her. Smiling big when she indeed realized it was her best friend. "Good morning Sakura-chan!" She greeted, and Sakura smiled. Nodding and giving her a wave.

"Morning Ino-chan." Ino fell into step with her, and they started to walk to school together.

"That sure is a change in attire," Ino pointed out, quickly noticing Sakura's change of clothes.

She shrugged, "Well the dress was cute when I was just a student, but I'm a Kunoichi now. New girl new clothes, right?" She asked, and Ino nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point there." She agreed, "I see you even did something with that old ribbon, you really weren't kidding when you said you would." She said with a chuckle. Sakura nodded.

"It means a lot to me, my best friend gave it to me after all. For me, it's like a symbol of our never ending friendship." That was pretty cheesy, but that _is _basically how she saw it.

"Aww, that's so sweet of you Sakura-chan! Now I just wish _I _had something!"

"Maybe we can do something about that another time." Sakura piped, and Ino nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, if you say so," She said, "So, what do you think this orientation is gonna be all about?" Ino started, on the change of subject. "I mean, we're _already_ ninja, you'd think we'd just start getting missions or something."

"Well, I'm sure Iruka-sensei has something pretty important he has to share with us." Ino scoffed.

"If it was _that _important, then he should've told us graduation day." Sakura shrugged.

"Who knows, maybe it was something that he just didn't have the time to delve into that day." Ino playfully rolled her eyes.

"You just have an answer for everything, don't you Sakura-chan?"

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

They both entered their now old classroom, to see the familiar faces of their friends and classmates. "Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, over here!" They both heard Naruto exclaim, and their eyes quickly darted over to him. To see that their Rookie Nine group were all seated on the same side of class. Hell, even Sasuke. Even though he was blatantly ignoring everyone.

"Hey everyone," Ino greeted, stopping in front of Naruto. Naruto gave an enthusiastic 'good morning' to her and Shikamaru muttered a reply. Hinata gave a nearly inaudible 'hello', while Sasuke and Shino said absolutely nothing. Chouji giving a 'hey' and Kiba saying 'what's up?'

"I, uh, saved you a seat Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a big smile, getting out of his seat and directing a hand to the empty one that was next to him. She was about to say thank you, but Ino spoke before she got the chance.

"Actually Naruto-kun, do you think that maybe _I _could sit right there?" Oh God, this wasn't actually happening. _Still_?

Naruto looked a bit surprised that she asked, then rubbed the back of his head. "B-But... I kinda wanted Sakura-chan to-"

"I just wanted to sit next to Sasuke-kun, _please_?" She said, clasping her hands together. Sasuke sneered and shot a glare Ino's way when he heard her say that, but it went away before anyone other than Sakura could notice it.

"Uhhh..." Naruto trailed, then someone else spoke. Another girl of the class.

"Hey!" She said, stomping up to Ino. "I was here way before you, what if _I_ want to sit next to Sasuke-kun?"

"Then I'd say tough nuts!" Ino retorted, making Sakura snort in laughter. "I knew him before you so there, piss off!" Shit seriously gets real over a heartthrob, sad isn't it?

"I want that seat!" Some other girl exclaimed, walking up. "I was the first girl here!"

"No you weren't, I was!" Another said.

Then another, "It doesn't matter who got here first, because I'm getting that seat!"

"None of you can sit there!" Naruto finally said, getting tired of the now pretty large group of girls. All fighting over who gets to sit next to 'Sasuke-kun'. "Because I saved that spot for _Sakura-chan_!"

All of the girls except Ino glared at him, "Shut the hell up Naruto, nobody cares!"

"Yeah," Another agreed, "Who was talking to you? You stupid dead last!"

"Hey!" Ino snapped, glaring daggers at the girl who said that. Her 'protect my friend from verbal abuse' mode turning on within a second. "And just who do you think you are, you retarded frizzy-haired whore?!" She shot, making the other girl's mouth drop open.

"What?!"

"You heard me! Don't you talk to Naruto-kun like that, only we can!" She was actually defending Naruto, something you never would've seen during this time in canon. That was the sweet power of change. Ino clenched her fists, "And you can't sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Then the argument over Sasuke continued, much to Naruto's annoyance.

All the others watched on, not noticing when Naruto hopped up in front of Sasuke. Staring him right in the face, while Sasuke glared right back. Sakura didn't even see it, until one of the fangirls gasped.

"Don't you dare look at Sasuke-kun like that you idiot, get away from him!"

"I'm not gonna warn you again!" Ino threatened to her, then turned to Naruto. "Stop doing that, Naruto-kun!"

"What's the big deal?!" Naruto shot, then looked back at the boy in front of him. "It's always 'Sasuke this' or 'Sasuke that' I'm sick of it! You're _not_ that great" He growled, "I don't get what girls see in you!"

Sasuke scoffed, "Neither do I, now get out of my face. You loser."

"What'd you call me, bastard?!" Naruto exclaimed, yanking him forward by the collar of his shirt. Making all those girls gasp.

"Naruto-kun," Ino started, in a warning tone. "You might be my friend, but now you're pushing boudaries. Let him go!" He only ignored her, and continued to glare daggers at him. While Sasuke did the very same.

"You heard her, let me go." Sasuke said in a teasing voice, his glare not faltering for a second.

"Bastard!"

"Dead last!"

You could practically see electricity pass through their stare, it was eerie. And somehow, it seemed as if their rivalry was even worse than in canon. Considering it started earlier than it was suppose to, that was very understandable.

It was then that Sakura hurried over to the both of them, noticing the boy behind Naruto lean back. He knocked into Naruto and pushed him forward, but before one of the funniest things in that episode could happen she caught him by his jacket collar.

Their faces were now dangerously close to each other, and it made them both simultaneously pull a face. Shoving each other away in pure disgust. At least they didn't kiss each other, funny as that would've been poor Naruto didn't deserve to get beat up.

"Thanks Sakura-chan..." Naruto muttered thankfully. Sending another glare to Sasuke, who sneered at him.

The fangirls continued to fight over the spot next to their crush, and Sakura looked at Naruto. "Why don't you just sit next to Sasuke? I'll take the spot on the end." Naruto looked at her as if she'd said something crazy, which she technically did.

"No way!" He pointed at the Uchiha boy, "There is no way in hell I'm sitting next to that bastard!" Sasuke merely ignored him this time.

"Well somebody has to," She said, then sighed. "Fine, I'll sit there." No use in going back and forth with it, when she really thought about it.

Naruto beamed and hopped down from the desk, Sakura walked back around to step into the bench seat. Plopping down next to Sasuke, Naruto seated next to her.

The other girls hadn't even noticed until Iruka poofed into the room and told everyone to find a seat. When they noticed Sakura was seated there, Ino just sighed in disappointment and sat inbetween Shikamaru and Chouji. Everyone else giving her a dirty look before finding somewhere else to sit.

Once everyone was sitting down, Iruka began to speak. "You're all now Shinobi..." Too bad they didn't listen.

Ino leaned down, looking at Naruto. "Wait a minute, what're you doing here anyway Naruto-kun? You failed the graduation exam."

"You won't believe it," Kiba smirked, leaning down as he responded to Ino. "It's insane."

"Seriously?" She questioned, then looked back at Naruto. "What happened?" And that was when Naruto went on to explain how Mizuki told him there was a second portion to the test. Then about a scroll that was stashed away in the Hokage tower.

"Then, he said that I had to give him the scroll to pass the test. Iruka-sensei showed up and, well, there was a lot of back and forth after that." Naruto smirked, "But I totally kicked his ass with Shadow Clone jutsu! Then, Iruka-sensei passed me!" He chose to leave out his new found knowledge of being the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, in fear that his long time friends would think he were some type of beast. A monster.

"That _is_ insane," Ino commented, "Who would've thought Mizuki-sensei had an evil streak."

"I can believe it," Shikamaru commented, with a shrug. Chouji nodded.

"Me too, I didn't like him much. He was a little bit _too_ nice if you ask me."

"Well, the important part is, it's behind you. Plus, you get to be a ninja now." Sakura piped, and Naruto beamed, agreeing immediately.

"And now," They heard Iruka say, as he pulled out a clipboard. "Today, you will all be separated into three man teams." Everyone was a little surprised, to say the least. Sakura however stayed indifferent. "Team One..."

_'Just more people to bring me down.'_ Sasuke thought to himself, giving an eyeroll.

"I hope I get to be on a team with you Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, excitement laced in his voice. Sakura smiled at him.

"Same here," Sakura happily said back. Ino leaned down again, her face a little flushed.

"I hope I get to be on Sasuke-kun's team!" Shikamaru then groaned.

"It's always Sasuke with you, I don't see what the big deal is. What's so great about him that girls like you have to obsess over him?"

She narrowed her eyes at 'girls like you', "I do not 'obsess', and the big deal is that he's perfect. You aren't a girl Shika-kun, clearly you wouldn't get it."

"Yeah? Well if that's the case then I'm glad." He responded, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"But if you _were_ a girl, you'd be crushing on him too." He grimanced.

"I'd have a crush on Naruto-kun before _that_ ever happened." He said, and Sakura giggled. Naruto turned around to look at him.

"You say something to me Shikamaru-kun?" He questioned, and Shikamaru only waved him off.

"Team Seven will consist of..." Iruka said, bringing Sakura into full attention. "Uzumaki Naruto... Haruno Sakura..." Naruto's face brightened as he looked at Sakura. Who smiled back at him.

"Looks like we're gonna be teammates." _'Fuck yeah!' _She said in her head, that was one less thing she had to worry about.

Naruto nodded, a pink blush on his cheeks. _'This is the greatest day of my life!' _But then his mood came crashing down, when the last named was said.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh _man_," Ino whined, clearly disappointed she wouldn't be teamed up with her crush.

"Hey, wait just a minute!" He exclaimed, quickly standing up and pointing at the young boy. "Why do I have to be stuck on a team with a bastard like him?!"

Iruka sighed irritably, crossing his arms. "Naruto... you had the worst grades of all the graduating students. Sasuke had some of the best scores, these teams are carefully constructed based upon skill Naruto. I had to put you and Sasuke on the same team to balance it out. That's that."

Some people laughed after Iruka's explanation and Naruto bared his teeth. "But-"

"Sit down already, you dead last loser." Sasuke said, then Naruto glared at him.

"Screw you, you bastard!" He said, and Sakura grabbed his arm.

"Uhh... you _might_ want to sit down Naruto-kun..." She said, on account that the girls in class were starting to give him dirty glares. Naruto looked down at her, then muttered a 'fine' as he plopped back down. Angrily crossing his arms.

"As I was saying," Iruka said, looking down at his paper. "Team Eight will be, Hyuuga Hinata... Inuzuka Kiba... and Aburame Shino."

Sakura looked back at Hinata, and saw the disappointment etched into her face as she stared at Naruto. She remembered how much she wanted to be on his team, but this was how it had to be.

He then got to the last Rookie team, "Team Ten is Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji."

Ino looked between the two boys on either side if her and shrugged, at least she was on a team with friends. It could've been worse

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Once the team formations were completed Iruka dismissed everyone for lunch, to 'get to know their teammates'. Funny thing is, the nine of them were already plenty familiar with each other. But they'd eat together anyway.

Now that they weren't in school anymore and were being separated, there was no telling when they'd see each other again. May as well spend this time with one another.

"Sasuke-san!" Sakura called when she saw him walking away, catching the Uchiha's attention. "Do you wanna eat with us all?" She asked, the rest of the group standing behind her.

Naruto rolled his eyes and looked elsewhere, Sasuke could go where ever for all he cared. The farther away from the bastard he was, the better if you asked him.

Ino skipped up next to Sakura and nodded quickly, "Yeah Sasuke-kun-" Sakura put a hand over her mouth before she could finish that statement.

"Maybe you should let me do the talking." She said, she probably should. Before Ino said something that would make Sasuke refuse. "If you really want him with us that is."

"Okay!" She said, but it was muffled by Sakura's hand. She removed it and looked at Sasuke.

"What do you say?" Sasuke stared blankly at her.

"Thanks but no thanks, I'd rather eat alone." Well fuck, that was a loner for you.

"Great, now we can go!" Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head. But Ino quickly told him to shut up.

"We're a _team_ now Sasuke-san," Sakura continued, "Me and Naruto don't know a lot about you."

"That's not a bad thing..." Naruto muttered.

"We're going to be around each other pretty much everyday anyway, we may as well start now." She finished, and now Sasuke seemed as if he were genuinely giving the offer a little more thought. Then after a few more seconds, he shrugged.

"Whatever," He muttered, which was just the Sasuke way of saying 'sure!'

"No complaining," Sakura told Naruto when she saw him open his mouth, he quickly closed it and opted to just glare at him some more. Sasuke saw his look, scoffing and glaring right back.

Feel that love or what?

They all went up to the roof, some of them sat down while the rest stood up. Eating and conversing with one another. Meanwhile Sasuke had been quiet the entire time, even Shino said more than him.

It was crystal clear that Sasuke wasn't enjoying the fact that he was being stuck on a team, he hated it even more knowing that Naruto of all people was one of his teammates, but that was just merely a result of his 'everyone is beneath me' attitude.

And now, Sakura was convinced that part of him only agreed to eat with them all to spite Naruto. He knew the blonde didn't want him around. It was actually pretty amusing, how were they suppose to work together as a team if they couldn't even be civil with one another?

Clearly it was now her job to be the peace maker on this team, who else would keep them from killing each other? Kakashi? Pffft, please.

As if that were bad enough, Ino made it her mission to get Sasuke to talk - mostly to her of course. It was obviously beginning to get on the Uchiha's nerves, and Naruto poked at it. Only making it worse.

All that did was start another argument between the two, while the others were trying to break it up. Ino just wanted Naruto to stop being rude to Sasuke, Hinata just plain old didn't like conflict. Shikamaru and Kiba just wanted them to shut the hell up, while Sakura wanted to keep the peace that was once in the air. Chouji and Shino only listened.

It wasn't the friendliest lunch time.

Once it was over, they all went back to the classroom to wait for their Jounin teacher. Kurenai Yuhi was the first to pick up Team Eight, Asuma Sarutobi came in not long after to collect Team Ten. One by one every other team got taken out of class by their new teachers, until Team Seven was the only team left waiting.

It'd been so long, even Iruka couldn't sit in there with them any longer. Claiming that he had other business to attend to.

They waited for what felt like forever. Naruto was getting annoyed and honestly so was Sakura. This shit was funny when you were watching it on TV, but to actually sit there and wait for his ass was unbearable. She should've brought one of her medical books.

Sasuke remained stoic as always, but even he was annoyed. Though, he could still wait patiently. Solely because it wasn't as if he'd never show up.

Naruto was walking all over the classroom, opening and closing things, digging through Iruka's desk and drawing crappy pictures on the chalkboard. He groaned, stomping over to the door and sliding it open, looking down both ends of the hallway.

"Where is he?!" He yelled, slamming the door back. Making Sasuke sigh, but he wouldn't say anything. He didn't want to waste his breath in another argument with that dead last.

"Somewhere," Sakura answered. But she had an idea, She remembered this theory that she came up with on why Kakashi was late all the time. He visited the Memorial Stone every morning, to mourn over his fallen team. Time probably always got away from him, because he was more focused on the stone and memories of his comrades.

She wasn't sure if that was the case, but it would also explain why he always used Obito's old excuses as reasons for his tardiness. But at least that guy was serious about those excuses.

Naruto took one of the erasers off of the chalkboard and stood on the stool, sticking the eraser in the door.

"Well wherever he is, this is what he gets for being so late!" He said, hopping down from the stool. "Why is it all the other team's senseis were on time _except_ for ours?! We're waiting around like a bunch of idiots!"

"Stupid, he's a _Jounin_." Sasuke said, "He'd never fall for a childish trick, especially not one as dumb as that."

Sakura stifled a laugh, "You won't be saying that when the shit falls on his head."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "He's an elite ninja with the senses to match, it isn't _going_ to fall on his head."

Just then, the door slide open just as the copy ninja peeped his head inside. The eraser falling right onto his head and getting chalk dust in his hair. Naruto immediately began to laugh, while Sakura gave Sasuke a look that read 'I told you so'.

"No way..." The raven haired boy trailed, giving Kakashi a disbelieving look. "He fell for that crap trick... and he's suppose to be Jounin?"

Sakura smirked, leaning over to him. "Don't forget, he's also our teacher." She added, then he pulled a face that made her laugh.

Kakashi picked up the eraser, and Naruto pointed at him. "I can't believe you actually fell for that, maybe now you'll think twice before leaving us waiting!"

Kakashi was quiet, then lazily looked up at his new Genin team. "...You all must be a bunch of morons." He deducted, and everyone hung their head. Way to bruise an ego Kakashi.

* * *

**Author's Note: **You know something? Kakashi said there were only twenty-seven graduates. So if there are three people to a team that means there should only be nine of them. But there's a team ten, were they skipping numbers or something?. (Someone's pointed out Team Gai, I forgot that they make up Team Nine.)

This took all night lol, but now it's finally done. Don't expect another one for a while.

And remember, still accepting your pairing opinions so leave a boy with your review. Until next time! Love you all and thank you to the new favorite/followers!

**Chapter edited: April 9, 2014**


	5. Chapter five: The Bell Test

**Author's Note: **It's pretty much tied between Naruto and Gaara, so I'll decided later on which one it will be. Most likely Naruto since someone did point out Gaara will be Kazekage, so he'd honestly be more focused on that. But it _could _still be Gaara, I'll have to think about it.

Someone said something about Sasuke that I won't give my opinion about, because that includes story spoilers. So... yeah I guess I just won't bring that up.

Also, I apologize if the kid days were a little rushed. I was never gonna go too deep into that, the only purpose of that was only to show how the Rookie Nine all befriended each other. Sakura will interact with them more later in the story, so you can get a more clear understanding of her relationships with them. I just wanted to start canon.

Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_The Bell Test_

* * *

Kakashi had them all seated out on the roof, just like he'd asked of them inside the classroom. He was leaned against the safety rails across from them, while they sat on some steps across from Kakashi.

"Good," He began, "You're all here, now we can begin with the introductions." None of them said a word, and Kakashi sighed. We're these kids really stupid? "_You know_, your likes, your dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future... whatever, that sort of thing." He explained.

They all looked at each other, then Sakura smirked at him. "Why don't _you _go first, Sensei." She didn't know why she really bothered, he was just gonna say the same bull crap that he did before. But now that she thought about it, part of her actually kinda wanted to hear it again. Because this time it would be in person, plus Kakashi was one of her favorite characters. One of the cutest too, if you asked her.

Yeah, she just wanted to hear him say it.

"Well, if you insist." He sighed, then crossed his arms as he looked up to the sky. "My name is Hatake Kakashi, and let's see here... my likes? I like a lot of things." Sakura's smile widened, "My dislikes... I guess I don't dislike too many things. My hobbies are none of your business, and my dream for the future..." He trailed, then shrugged. His visible eye crinkled closed, signaling that he was smiling underneath his mask. "I guess I never thought about it."

No one said anything, then Sakura suddenly bursted with laughter. She clutched her stomach and fell backwards, kicking her legs a little. At this point, Naruto and Sasuke were looking at her as if she'd gone insane. She didn't know why, she probably never would, but for some reason that shit was _hilarious_. Naruto frowned and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi.

"Hey hey hey!" He shouted over Sakura's laughing, "All you even told us was your name, how the hell is that fair?!" He pointed a finger at him, "We didn't learn _crap _about you!"

"Your turn," Kakashi said simply, ignoring all of what Naruto just said. Making him frown even more, he was avoiding the problem. But all the same, he let it go and crossed his arms.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" He said confidently, Sakura quickly shut up. As to not be rude, and straightened back up. "And what I like is Ramen especially the kind at Ichiraku. And, haha..." He rubbed the back of his head, giving Sakura a big smile. "I like Sakura-chan..." She smiled at him, and he looked at the ground. The smile still on his face. "I disli-" He paused, then grumbled something. He shot a look at Sasuke, "Well, I _hate _Sasuke-teme for starters." Sasuke only scoffed, not caring in the slightest. Naruto turned back to his sensei, "Anyway, I dislike the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the hot water in the instant kind. My hobbies are eating Ramen, and my dream..." He proudly grabbed his headband, "Is to be the _greatest _Hokage, that way people will stop disrespecting me. And look at me as someone important!"

Kakashi nodded, other than all of that stuff he said about Ramen... he didn't seems too bad. He was clearly a kid who had a lot of energy, hopefully he wouldn't run him raggid. From what he said about Sasuke, he could tell there was tension and hostility between them. And he _greatly _preferred Sakura, for what ever reason. Maybe because she wasn't Sasuke. And that dream of his, that was pretty big. He appeared to be the type who didn't give up easily, Kakashi could tell from the glint in his eyes when he talked about being Hokage.

"Alright, now you with the pink hair. You next." He said, nodding Sakura's way.

"Alrighty then," She said, straightening up more. "My name is Haruno Sakura, my likes..." She hummed as she pretended to think. "Well I sure do like this guy." She said, patting Naruto's head. And his cheeks turned red as another huge smile found its way onto his face. "Sasuke-san isn't so bad either."

"Hn," He grunted, making Sakura giggle.

"My dislikes, boy what do I _not _like?" Purple haired bitches named Ami, "I don't like when people fuck with my friends," Kakashi straightened up in slight shock, at her cursing. She didn't look the type to use words like that. "And I definitely don't like when people underestimate mine and my friends abilities. Not much other than that, I'll let you know if I think of something. Now, _my _hobbies are none of _your _business." Naruto stifled a laugh, it started to slip out but he quickly covered his mouth.

Kakashi chuckled a little, _'Well played...' _He thought, "Alright, and your dream?"

_'To make a change,' _"To be... just to be the greatest Kunoichi I can be." She concluded, and Kakashi nodded again.

He didn't really get much from her, and she seemed like she wasn't one-hundred percent truthful about her dream. He could tell from the sound of her voice, but if she didn't want to speak of what it really was then he wouldn't force her to.

"Lastly," He said, looking at Sasuke. Who wasn't even looking at Kakashi, but at the ground in front of him.

"My name... is Uchiha Sasuke," He began, cooly. "I dislike _a lot _of things, and I don't particularly _like _anything. My dream isn't a dream, but an _ambition_. I am going to restore my clan... and destroy, _kill_, a certain someone." He said, and Naruto looked at him with wide eyes. Automatically assuming that he was the one Sasuke was speaking about, who he wanted to kill. It made his throat go dry and a shiver run down his spine.

Sakura only stared at him, it was very unsettling when a twelve year old spoke about murdering someone. But she supposed that was just the Naruto universe, in this world there have been some even younger than him that have killed. Like Zabuza for example.

Kakashi stared at him as well, all he knew besides his name was his dream. And it was odd to hear something like that from someone so young. It made Kakashi wonder, just who was he talking about? What could they have done, to make him want to resort to such a thing?

"... Alright, great." Kakashi said, clapping. As if they'd all just accomplished a great feat, and in his eyes they sort of did. They weren't as dumb as he previously thought. "Now we're all acquainted."

"Well, with you anyway." Sakura said, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? So you all already knew each other?" He questioned.

"We were in the same class," Duh, "Plus, we've been friends for a really long time." She said, hearing Naruto mutter something about never being friends with Sasuke. "Isn't that right, Sasuke-san?" She questioned, pushing his shoulder.

He glared at the hand she touched him with, and then at her. Looking ahead of him once more, without saying a word. She could already see that she was gonna have a lot fun messing with him.

"Well, that's fine too." kakashi said, "It just means that there should be no problems with this team," He then glanced at Naruto and Sasuke. "At least, I hope not."

"I'll keep them in line, don't worry Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, smirking and crossing her arms. He only nodded.

"Okay, now that that's done, we can move onto the topic of what I'm going to do with you all tomorrow." He said, and Sakura giggled. He glanced at her, "Something funny Sakura?"

"Oh nothing, it-" She snorted, "What you just said seemed like something sexual..." Not really, silly girl just thought of it that way. Naruto laughed.

"It did!" He said to her, then pointed at Kakashi. "It did, you're a pervert!" He laughed.

"Hmm... and just when I was starting to think you had a brain Naruto. Oh well." He shrugged, and Sakura laughed again. While Naruto huffed. "What I meant was, a sort of mission."

Naruto quickly brightened up, leaning forward. "A mission! We're going on a mission?! What're we gonna do? Are we gonna save a Princess? Fight enemy ninja? What?!" He excitedly asked, he could barely contain it all.

Kakashi chuckled in amusement, his eye closing again. "Oh no, nothing like that." Naruto slouched, a little disappointed. "A _survival _mission." Naruto tilted his head.

"A... survival mission? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, what I mean is, just because you've graduated from Ninja Academy... that doesn't necessarily mean that you're all ninja just yet." Naruto gasped, and Sasuke picked his head up a little more. His eyes a little wider.

"What do you mean we aren't ninja?!" Naruto questioned, his anger beginning to rise.

"Of all the twenty-seven people who graduated, only three of the teams that were formed will be passed on. Only nine graduates can become Genin, you all still have to pass _my _graduation exam. Which has a sixty-six percent chance of _failure_."

"W-what! But- I-" Naruto sputtered, and Kakashi looked pleased by his reaction. Exactly how he expected him to act, and Sasuke looked more focused, determined even. While, to his surprise, Sakura was smirking.

"I want you all to meet me at Training Ground Three first thing tomorrow morning, be there at five o'clock sharp. This training is going to be very harsh, so I advise you not to eat any breakfast. Well, unless you want to throw it all up anyway." Naruto face twisted into an expression of disgust, as he stuck out his tongue and put his hands on his stomach. "See you then." He said, then Body Flickered off of the roof. Leaving the three all alone.

"... Is he _serious_!" Naruto said after the long silence, "So, what, if we fail this survival test we can't be ninja?!"

"That's what he said," Sakura said as she stood up, then stretched from sitting down for so long. "But I'm not worried," He voice came out strained, from her stretching. Sasuke looked up at this, his face barely showing his surprise.

"How?" He asked, "He said there was a sixty-six percent chance of failure."

"Well Duck-san," She started, and he narrowed his eyes at the name she called him. "That just means there's a thirty-four percent chance of us making it, and I think we might just fall under that percentage."

Naruto blinked, "But, we don't even know what the test will be like." He pointed out, "How can you even be sure of that Sakura-chan?"

Sakura gave him a smile, then rested her hand on his shoulder. Doing the same with Sasuke when he stood up as well. "Because, we're Team Seven." She answered, making Naruto brighten up and Sasuke smirk. "Nothing's gonna bring us down!"

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Sakura wandered over to Training Ground Three, where they were all to wait for Kakashi for exactly three hours. She wasn't the least bit tired either, she actually saw this coming so she went to bed pretty early. And unlike the original, Sakura actually had dinner the previous night.

When she reached her teammates, she saw that Sasuke was as wide awake as she was. While Naruto was knocked out on the ground, she looked up at the Uchiha. "Do you ever sleep, how are you awake right now?" Welp, that was probably a stupid question. He could've gone to bed early just like her.

"I could ask you the same thing," He responded, and she put her hands on her hips. Puffing out her chest a little.

"Justice _never _sleeps!" She said, and Sasuke deadpanned. Looking at her like she were an idiot, then Sakura awkwardly chuckled. She thought that was funny, but neglected to remember where she was. Absolutely no one from the Narutoverse would ever understand a quote from some cartoon.

She cleared her throat, "Anyway.. good morning Sasuke-san." He only grunted in response, making her roll her eyes. _'That's all he ever fucking does, try using some damn words Uchiha!' _She thought to herself, before treading over to Naruto.

She stopped in front of him and squatted down, She could feel a pair of eyes looking at her from behind. Sasuke was watching, she poked Naruto's face while she whispered. "Naruto-kun, wake up sleepyhead." She said sweetly, and he stirred.

"I love you too.. Sakura-chan." He said, giving his backpack a tight hug. She giggled, and Sasuke muttered something about him being an idiot.

"Wake up!" She said louder this time, close to his ear and he jumped up. Now alert.

"H-Huh!" He looked around, turning his head in numerous directions, until his gaze finally fell upon his pink haired teammate. "Oh, hey there Sakura-chan. What time is it?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It's only five-fifteen," She answered, and he opened his eyes back up.

"I've only been asleep for ten minutes?!" He shouted, then hung his head in despair. "Aw man, why'd you wake me up Sakura-chan?"

"Just wanted to give you a little something," She said as she removed her bag from her back. She unzipped it and pulled out two apples, handing them both to her blonde haired teammate.

Naruto blinked at her, looking down at the apples. Then back up at his crush, "Um.. what's this for?"

"Well, aren't you hungry?" He nodded.

"Well, yeah sure, but-"

"Kakashi said not to eat anything." Sasuke said, cutting him off.

"Yeah, what bastard said!" He exclaimed, "I don't wanna throw up!"

"Well..." Sakura trailed, "Eating before you train could be a pretty bad thing, but not eating anything at all also has it's own consequences." She explained, holding the fruits out further to him. "In this case, at least it isn't anything too heavy."

He stared at them reluctantly, then took them both from her with the slightest bit of hesitance. Quickly beginning to eat when he concluded it wouldn't hurt. Sakura smiled and took out two more, walking over to Sasuke.

She held them out to him, and he gave her a look that read 'no'. "Look Duck-san, I know you're hungry. Stop being so damn stubborn and _take _them. They'll digest a little before he gets here, if you eat them now."

"How would you know?" Sasuke questioned, crossing his arms. "He could be here any minute."

"We waited three hours in a classroom for him, I highly doubt he'll be here anytime soon. He's already seventeen minutes late and he told us to be here _sharp_." She explained, and Sasuke remained silent.

Her arms were beginning to grow stiff and tired, before he finally sighed and took them. She smiled when he took his first bite.

"Thank you Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, his voice filled with gratitude. She nodded at him, it was no problem. She walked back near Naruto and sat down, pulling a Med book out of her bag. Flipping to the chapter she left off on. "What'cha reading Sakura-chan?" He asked, leaning over to see.

"It's just a book on Medical Jutsu, this is the first of the four volumes I have." She answered, "I was gonna read over Mystical Palm a little before Kakashi-sensei showed up." She'd sure as fuck have a lot of time.

"I didn't know you were into that stuff," He said, then grinned. "Isn't that when you like, heal people or something?" She nodded, and his grin grew a bit. "So if I ever get hurt, I can count on you to fix me!"

"You bet!" She said, lightly punching his shoulder. Sasuke scoffed, finishing his first apple and starting on his second. Sakura looked his way, smirking. "Don't feel left out Sasuke-san, I'm here for you too."

"Hn," Was his reply, and Naruto rolled his eyes. After that, besides Naruto speaking to Sakura now and then, it was quiet between the team.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Kakashi Body Flickered in front of them, and gave them a wave. "Good morning everyone."

"You're late!" Naruto shouted, springing up from the ground and pointing an accusing finger at him. "What the hell happened to five o'clock, huh?!"

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed, putting a hand to his chin. "Oh that's right, sorry about that. I was helping an old woman with some bags." There he went, using one of Obito's excuses.

"Bull _shit_." Sakura said, but Kakashi merely ignored her. They were only Genin and he was a Jounin, they couldn't do crap about his being tardy and he was aware of it. They were children and he was their superior, he could get away with pretty much anything. They probably weren't the first ones he pulled this shit with either, she'd believe it in a second if she ever heard him say it. Or if anyone else did.

"But that's neither here nor there, now we can get started." He said, resting his hands on his hips. He pulled out an old looking alarm clock, winding it then setting it down onto a tree stump. "This clock is set for noon, and your assignment is very simple." They all heard a jingle as Kakashi held up a pair of bells. "All you have to do, is take these bells from me."

"And that's all?" Sakura questioned, Kakashi nodding in response.

"That's it, plain and simple." He said, "But if you can't get one before the time is up, you go without lunch." He pointed at the three posts behind them, "And you'll get tied up to one of those posts, where you'll watch me eat my own lunch."

"Hey! That's why you told us not to eat breakfast, isn't it?!" Naruto hollered, then blew a raspberry at him. "Well _nya_, joke's on you cause Sa-" Before he could finish, she slapped a hand over his mouth. Kakashi didn't need to know that she fed them.

"If you're done with your tantrum, I'd like to continue." The copy ninja said.

Sasuke sneered, "Why are there only two bells if there's three of us?" He asked, noticing the obvious flaw.

"Well, clearly there's only two because only two of you can have them." He answered. Naruto looked shocked, Sakura had a confident look on her face, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he clenched his fists. "The one that fails to retrieve a bell will be tied to the post, and ultimately fail this test for not completing the mission. _That _one will be sent back to the Academy." He jingled them again, almost like it was to make a point. "But then again, there's still the possibility that none of you will get one. Then the entire team flunks out. You're allowed to use any weapon that you see fit, but you must come at me with the intent to kill. That's the only way you'll have a chance at getting one of these from me." He explained.

They all nodded, he was right. When you were in battle, you could never hesitate. You should never have fear of mortally wounding, or even killing, your opponent when there was a type of goal to be made. Especially if force was the only way to attain it. There was no holding back, you had to give it your very all. Otherwise, what would be the damn point?

In the ninja world, there was no holding back or trying. Either you did something or you didn't, that was all there was to that matter.

"Can you possibly, I don't know... just give them to us or something?" Sakura asked with a shrug, Naruto and Sasuke both deadpanning as they looked at her. Kakashi included.

"... _no_." Kakashi said.

"Very well then," It couldn't hurt to ask, could it?

"When I say 'start' you may begin." He was silent after that, watching as they got into a readying stance. He stayed silent for a few more seconds, then spoke. "Start!"

They all pushed chakra into their legs and out through their feet, chakra jumping into the trees. They were all near the same spot, Naruto and Sasuke looked at Sakura.

"You better be right about this, Sakura." Sasuke said, his eyes narrowed. He didn't want to risk not becoming a ninja, this training was extremely important to him. He couldn't afford to fail this test all because he trusted her word. She was lucky that he trusted her enough to even listen to her.

"I am, just trust me will you Duck-san?!" She exclaimed.

Earlier, before Kakashi had arrived, she began to talk to them about the test. She left out the part about the bells, pretending that she herself didn't know about it. She made it a point that if it was a 'survival' test, then they were to probably work together. Because the chances of 'survival' were greater if you worked as a team, rather than working alone.

Sasuke at first accused her of not knowing what she was talking about. Claiming that she knew just as much about the test as they did, which was little to none.

Naruto was quick to her defense, claiming that she more than likely _did_ know what she was speaking about. That Sakura was very smart and observant, and could've very easily figured out such a thing.

But dispite what he said, Naruto refused to work with Sasuke. When he saw that the Uchiha had the exact same attitude. Eventually, Sakura brought them to common ground. Pointing out that it wasn't worth failing just because they didn't want to work together. Sometimes you had to do certain things to achieve something, even if you didn't want to.

This made them come to a temporary truce, both making it clear that it would only be until this test was completed.

"Naruto," Sakura said, looking his way. "Your move first, you know what to do. Remember, ten clone count."

"Got'cha!" He said, then leaped from his spot. "Shadow Clone jutsu!" He exclaimed from midair, a total of ten clones poofing all around him as they fell down towards Kakashi. He only looked up at them, appearing bored as he effortlessly fought them off. But Naruto was only the distraction, Sakura nodded at Sasuke and he nodded back.

He leaped from his position, running through the trees to get behind Kakashi. He leaped out into the open, throwing his needed hand signs at lightning speed. 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu!' He said in his head, his mouth forming an O shape as fireball-like bullets shot out of his mouth.

Kakashi however was fast, and more attentive than they thought. Even while he was busy with Naruto, he heard the rustle of leaves when Sasuke jumped from the trees. And lurched out of the line of fire.

Sasuke continued to shoot the fireballs at him, while Kakashi easily dodged out of their line of fire. Sasuke hit some of Naruto's clones by mistake, making them poof away and Naruto freaked out.

"You idiot bastard, what if that'd been me?! Watch where the hell you're aiming!" He hollered at him, and Sasuke snarled after stopping his jutsu.

"Would you shut up and pay attention, lose-" He paused, looking around as he noticed Kakashi was gone. "Where'd he go?!"

Naruto looked around as well, "How am I suppose to know, you were watching him!"

"Stupid, you should've been watching him too! You distracted me with your pointless yelling!"

"Bastard, what'd you call me?! You should've paid more attention to what you were shooting at!"

Sakura faced palmed, from her spot up high. Even during their so called truce, they just couldn't quit yelling at one another. But then, even she now had to wonder where their sensei had gone so quickly. She saw him leap away somewhere, but now he was nowhere to be seen. Surely he hadn't fled, he had no reason to.

Suddenly, two hands shot out from the ground below Sasuke, catching them all off guard. Then Sakura realized, he must've left so he could sneak underground. Then burrowed his way back to them. He was a Jounin alright.

He pulled Sasuke underground, only his head sticking out, then hopped out of the earth. The spot he left out from fixed itself, as if he'd never been there. "And that's why you're eyes should never leave your opponent."

At that moment, Sakura hopped out of the trees. Throwing numerous Kunai and Shuriken at him, all hitting him in the back and head. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and Naruto yelled out in just as much surprise.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Is what he said. But, just as she expected him to, Kakashi had used a Substitution jutsu. A log with weapons stuck to it hit the ground, Naruto let out a breath of relief when he saw it.

But then he realized, "Ugh! He got away!" He yelled, kicking at the ground.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Sakura, "You said this would work."

"I said it _might_ work!" She corrected, crossing her arms. "He's a Jounin Duck-san, it obviously won't be that easy."

"Why do you keep calling me that?!" He demanded to know.

"Because that's what your hair looks like, and at least I know how to use your name! Would you rather me call you Duck Ass?" He was silent, "Yeah, I didn't think so either. Now c'mon, now we gotta find him and try again."

"I'm _stuck_..." Sasuke said, and Sakura nodded.

"Don't fret Sasuke-san, we weren't gonna leave you here." She turned to Naruto. "Can you dig him out?"

Naruto's shoulders slumped, "Man... do I _have_ to?" Sakura narrowed her eyes, and he took that as his answer. "Alright," He made the hand seal for Shadow Clone jutsu and dug Sasuke out with the help of the clones. All of them leaving once their job was done.

Once he was out, Sakura nodded. "Remember, _teamwork_." Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other, then back at Sakura with determined expressions. She smirked, that was good. "Now scatter!" She exclaimed, all of them chakra jumping in different directions. In search of their teacher.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Naruto had found Kakashi first and soon Sasuke and Sakura joined him. They were all spaced out around him in a circle formation. And he looked at them all, a little impressed. He never expected them to work together like this.

"You're going down Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand. He used his trademark jutsu again, this time making double the amount that he had before. All of them running at him at the same time, with a yell.

Kakashi fought them off again like he did before. The real Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who nodded, and Naruto lurched away while the clones continued to brawl. Giving Sasuke a clear shot.

He made another set of hand seals, one of them different from before, and his chest puffed up. _'Fire Style: Fireball jutsu' _He said in his head, a giant flame erupting from his mouth and quickly heading in Kakashi's direction.

Kakashi dodged and ducked just as before, but little did he know that Sasuke wasn't trying to hit him. He was leading him towards a tree, unsuccessfully at first. As Kakashi kept away from spots such as that. But, eventually Sasuke cornered him. Then it was Sakura's turn.

She threw Shuriken laced in Wire String at him, directing them so that they tied him around the tree. Then threw a Kunai at him, hitting a spot on the tree that was directly above his head.

Kakashi smirked, "You seem to have missed Sakura." He said, and she crossed her arms as she smirked right back.

"No I didn't," It was then he heard a hissing sound, he looked up and saw that there was an explosive tag attached to it. The Genin leaped away just before it detonated, when the smoke cleared Naruto hopped back down. While Sasuke and Sakura stayed back.

Naruro looked at the tree, seeing that the wire Sakura tied him up with had been cut. Son of a bitch got away again. "Where is he _now_?!" Naruto shouted, then looked at the ground. "Are you underground again?!"

"No," Kakashi asked from his crouched position behind him. "I'm right behind you." He had his hands clasped together, both sets of his middle and index fingers pointing outward. He pushed them forward, poking Naruto hard in the butt. "A Thousand Years of Pain!"

Naruto shouted and jumped a good distance away in reflex, falling smack onto his face. Seeing this made Sakura start to laugh uncontrollably. Sasuke trying to make her shut up.

"You're gonna give away our position!" He hissed.

"I-I'm, I'm sorry I-" She couldn't get it out, that was too funny. It was probably funnier because it happened despite this test going differently. She lost her balance on her branch from her laughter, and fell down the tree. Her head hitting the ground first before anything else.

She sprang up, tears pricking her eyes from the pain. Then she yelled, "_Ouch_! Son of a mother fucking _bitch_! That hurt!"

_**"Cha!"** _She heard something say, making her pause an look around. What the hell was that?

Kakashi stared at her, a little in disbelief. That was some pretty course language for a twelve year old girl. "You know," He started, "A girl your age shouldn't speak that way, it's very unlady-like."

She rubbed the back of her head and narrowed her eyes at him, "And a man your age shouldn't be stick his fingers up some young boy's ass! That's sexual harassment!" She yelled, "Sasuke-san!" She signaled, and he jumped from his position.

When he landed in front of Kakashi he attempted to foot sweep him, but Kakashi hoped up and away from his leg. Sasuke then brought that leg up kick him, but Kakashi caught it and flipped it up. Before Sasuke could fall onto his back, he caught himself with his hands and backflipped away.

When Naruto finally recovered, he ran at Kakashi. Throwing punches and kicks, Sasuke doing the same as he assisted his teammate.

He was so busy with the both of them, he had forgotten about Sakura long enough for her to get the drop on him. She pulled out more Wire String and attached it to some Shuriken, throwing one set at Kakashi.

Naruto and Sasuke dodged out of the way as the string wrapped around his arms and torso. Sasuke ran over and held it for her as she pulled out some more. Kakashi chuckled, pulling out a Kunai. Holding it with both hands, "That won't work a second time." Just as he said that, more of it tied around his wrists. Holding them together, Naruto held that set for Sakura while she ran up to her sensei.

"Won't work huh?" She said leaping forward and snatching the bells from him, "Well it looks like it did to me!" She flipped back and landed next to Sasuke, telling both boys to release Kakashi. And they did just that.

Funny enough, even with his wrists tied like that he probably still could've pulled a jutsu to aid him in an escape. But he instead chose to get caught, She didn't know why. Maybe because they actually worked together to try and get them.

Sakura tossed one bell to Sasuke and the other to Naruto, the latter looking a little sad to be taking it. "Well, that's that. We got them just like you wanted us to, and we even worked together to do it."

The silver haired man chuckled, "That's right, you did. And it's for that very same reason that you all pass."

"Wait, huh?!" Naruto said, confused.

"You said the person who doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the Academy, now you're saying all three of us passed?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, I know what I said."

"Then what gives?" Sasuke questioned.

"The point of this test wasn't to see who could get the bells," Kakashi explained, rotating his shoulder then sticking his hands in his pockets. "It was a test to see if you could put aside your your own selfishness and work together as a _team_."

"So, by there only being two bells and three of us, you purposely pinned us against each other." Sakura added, and Kakashi nodded.

"As a Genin, you should have a natural feel for teamwork, while you need individual skills as well, it's what's the most important of a Shinobi. Putting yourself and your needs before the team will more than likely lead to mission failure. Or even worse, the death of someone on your team. On every mission, you're putting your life on the line." He explained, "Have you ever seen the Memorial Stone? The big black one you see when you enter the training ground."

"Yeah," Sakura said, nodding. She knew where this was heading, shit was about to get depressing.

"That stone... is reserved for all of Konoha's fallen heroes." He said.

Naruto's mouth fell open a tiny bit, "So... everyone who's on that stone... is_dead_?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yes," He answered, "It's to honor those who died in battle, the names of my closest friends are engraved on that stone." He said, you could hear the sadness in his voice. They were all silent for the next minute, almost as if to honor the names of Kakashi's old team. "... Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, there will be instances where your teammates are more important that your mission."

"So, when our teammates need help. It's alright to break the rules?" Sakura asked, and Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, while those who break the rules are considered scum-"

"Those who abandon their friends are _worse_ than scum, that correct sensei?" She finished for him, and he seemed happy to know that she was already aware.

"That's exactly correct Sakura." Things were quiet again, "...So, tell me." Kakashi said, finally breaking the silence. "I'm curious, what exactly was your plan?"

They all looked at each other, then Naruto smiled at his teacher. "It was all Sakura-chan's idea," He proudly said, "I was the distraction, I had to try and keep your attention all on me to hopefully lower your guard."

Sasuke smirked, "Then it would be my turn to attack you from behind and weaken you, once Naruto got your guard lowered."

"Then I would move in for the finisher," Sakura said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'd trap you, then snatch the bells off of you. Simple, right?"

"Yes, but also effective." Their plan was very basic, but for Genin it was pretty good. "I expect you to work together like this all the time." He said, speaking a little more to Naruto and Sasuke. The two glanced at each other, then looked back at Kakashi.

Before anyone else could say anything, the alarm clock went off. Signaling that it was now noon, "That's the bell. This test is over, we're now officially Team Seven." He gave them all a thumbs up, "We'll be starting our first mission tomorrow."

"Awesome! We're ninja now, _believe it_!" He shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

"That's right, and as a reward I'll take you all out for Ramen. My treat," Naruto's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree after hearing this, and he quickly ran a head towards the exist of the training ground.

"Well what are we waiting for? Come on!" He exclaimed, Kakashi and Sasuke walking over to him. Sakura began to walk with them.

**"... _Cha_!" **She heard it again, making her gasp and stop walking. The others turned around.

"Is something the matter Sakura?" Kakashi asked, and she quickly shook her head.

"No, I'm fine sensei!" She said, disregarding it and chalking it up to her hearing things. She jogged over to catch up to them a little, then they all went over to Ichiraku. Without another word on the matter.

* * *

**Author's Note: **In case no one knew, the cartoon she got the "Justice never sleeps" thing from is Adventure Time. Weird I know, but I couldn't resist.

I am now requesting a Beta! These chapters are getting longer and I had to read over this chapter six times to get all the spelling/grammar mistakes. I speed through it really because I don't want to read it. So I'll need someone.

If you're interested then PM me, don't leave it in a review. But please only offer if you're available for the job, and if you're good with grammar/spelling. Thank you!

I know I said last chapter not to expect an update for a while, I'm such a fucking liar, but now I'm really serious. Review please, don't be a ghost reader!


	6. Chapter six: Body Thefts and Babies

**Author's Note: **While I said, yet again, that I wouldn't put out another chapter, I just had to give you this one. I couldn't resist, it's way too freaking great. But I have something that needs doing, so I really can't update for a while after this. Mean it this time!

**Beta: **Ashura Satoshi (Thanks again!)

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_Body Thefts and Babies_

* * *

_Sakura stirred about, slowly opening her eyes. Only to see that she wasn't in her warm bed in her pink room. She was laying down in tall grass, a cool breeze blowing over her. She quickly shot up and took in her surroundings, it was dark and she was in a giant field of grass. Trees here and there in the distance, a full moon was high up in the clear sky. Casting down an eerie glow._

_How did she end up here? After the bell test was over they'd all went to Ichiraku. When they were done eating Kakashi had left them to themselves, Sakura was with Naruto and Sasuke for the rest of the day after that. In hopes of 'team bonding', but it was surely going to take some real work with those two._

_She went to bed early, and she fell asleep didn't she? But she hadn't fallen into slumber here, that was for sure._

_Suddenly, she felt another presence. She looked up in front of her and gasped in surprise, because standing in front of her was another her. Only this one had long hair and was wearing Sakura's quipoa dress. She was a dark figure, outlined in white with bright white eyes._

_She deducted that this was inner Sakura, on account of the kanji that was written on her forehead. She however couldn't tell what it said, as that specific kanji's meaning varied. She remembered that it's meaning changed depending on what she was feeling._

_The other Sakura growled, **"Cha, hell no!" **She exclaimed, and she just found out what her forehead was saying. Furthermore, she must've been what she was hearing earlier that day. Other Sakura then threw her fists out, clearly not happy. **"You stole my body you bitch!"**_

_That definitely surprised her more, who the hell was she to tell her something like that?! "What the **fuck**?!" Sakura exclaimed, growing a little angry. "What the hell do you mean I stole **your** body? I was here first you ass, this is **my** body!"_

**_"No you weren't!"_**_ The other argued, **"I've been stuck here forever, I remember falling down here**_** years _ago_****.**_** I was pushed!" **She pointed a finger at her, **"By you!"**_

_That actually made her think, did she possibly do something like that? Then, possibly not even realise it. As a matter of fact, wasn't her inner suppose to resemble her? As in have her clothing and hairstyle. In those aspects, this Sakura didn't look like her at all. She looked just like..._

_She gasped, "The original!" She said aloud, making the other raise an eyebrow._

**_"What? What's that suppose to mean?"_**

_Was it even possible that this was in fact the original Sakura? Could this have been because of how hard she had hit her head? Maybe it was indeed plausible, as she surely wouldn't just disappear. She had to have gone somewhere, and apparently it was here. Wherever 'here' was anyway. "Where are we right now?"_

_Other Sakura blinked, then scoffed. **"Please, don't try to change the subject. You jacked my life, you little thief!"**_

_"I'm not a thief you bitch!" She shouted right back, "And it's not like I ever asked to be dropped here, I don't even know why I'm here!" She clenched her fists, "... I don't... I shouldn't even be here."_

**_"You're damn right you shouldn't be!"_**_ Hearing this made Sakura narrow her eyes, **"How would something like this even happen huh?! Where'd you even come from?!"**_

_She was aware that canon Sakura couldn't hold in her feelings. If she was sad she cried her eyes out, if she was angry she let you have it. She could understand that she was upset, but her screaming at her wouldn't change a thing._

_"How about you shut the fuck up so I can tell you?!" She snapped, and the other would've snapped right back. But she bit her tongue, wanting to hear her out._

_Sakura sighed, dropping her shoulders as she calmed herself. If this was her inner Sakura that meant they were inside her- their head. It was safe to fill her in. "I'm not originally from here..." She trailed._

**_"... Then where are you from?"_**_ Other Sakura questioned, she knew she wasn't talking about being from some other village. And if that were the case, then where else could she have possibly been from?_

_"From... from a whole different world." She answered, and the other looked confused. And a little bit curious, so she continued. "In the world I use to live in, this place is fictional."_

_**"Fictional?"** Other Sakura repeated, **"So... a-are you trying to say none of this is real? We- I'm not real?!" **She sounded like she was beginning to panic, and Sakura put up her hands. Stepping a little closer._

_"Hey hey! Would you calm down? Yes all of this is real in **this** world, but in mine it wasn't." She explained, and the other sighed._

**_"So... how was it- was... was it just made up?" _**_Sakura nodded. _

_"Exactly, this place was a sort of book. I use to read it all the time, so I have knowledge of things that haven't even happened yet" She explained._

**_"Alright, that actually sounds pretty unbelievable... but what reason do I have to call you a liar? Look at where we are now."_**_ The other said, **"But, that doesn't explain how you got here. And, you know, how you stole my life and everything."**_

_Sakura rolled her eyes, she had a feeling that would never be let go. "I don't fully understand it either, as a matter of fact I hate to even think of it. But, I'm here because I died in my world." Other Sakura's eyes widened, "I just ended up here, I had no control over who I ended up as. It just happened."_

_Other Sakura didn't respond, they both stood in silence. Only the sound of the rustling leaves and grass could be heard._

**_"So... things are just gonna stay this way?"_**_ Other said, sounding a little sad. It made Sakura feel bad. Because she technically was taking canon Sakura's life from her, it kinda was a little unfair._

_Sakura nodded, "That's what it looks like..." She trailed, and they were both silent once more._

**_"... What's the future going to be like"_**_ Other Sakura questioned, and Sakura shrugged. It wouldn't hurt anything to tell her, she supposed. Plus she's told her this much already, why not? With that she began her long explaination, not forgetting one detail._

_Other Sakura's face was contorting into different expressions through out Sakura's whole story, from faces of sadness, to shock, to anger. By the time it was over, she barely even knew what to say. _

**_"That's- That's horrible!"_**_ She exclaimed, and Sakura nodded. **"So that's it? All that stuff is just gonna happen? Just like that?!"**_

_Sakura scoffed, "Fuck no! There's no way in hell!" She exclaimed, "Just because I don't belong here, doesn't mean I'm gonna sit back and do nothing." Her face shifted, into one filled with determination. "I've made it my mission to make sure things don't turn out as fucked up as they do, and I'm going to see it through"_

**_"You sound determined,"_**_ She was, very. **"So, I guess there's nothing to worry about?"**_

_"... I don't know..."_

**_"What? You don't know? What do you mean you don't know, how hard is it to just make some changes?"_**

_"There's more to it than that!" Sakura said, "I can't just change anything I want, if I do that the future could change to the point where even I'm unaware of what'll happen. Or things could end up being even worse than they will be, the possibilities are nearly endless."_

_The other gasped a little, then looked down at the ground. **"I hadn't thought about it that way."**_

_"I just have to be careful about what I change and how I change it." Sakura added, and the other nodded._

**_"Alright..."_**_ She nodded, then was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. **"What am I suppose to call you anyway?"**_

_"Huh?"_

_Other Sakura narrowed her eyes, then crossed her arms with a huff. Turning away from her, **"I'm not calling you Sakura you fake, that's **_**my**_** name!"**_

_"It isn't just yours you fucking idiot!" She snapped, "I've had that name ever since I was born here, it's mine too!"_

**_"Well it's gonna be weird calling you that, I'm gonna feel like I'm talking to myself."_**

_"You're talking to yourself right now." Sakura pointed out, and the other rolled her eyes. Turning to face her._

**_"You are _not_ me!"_**_ Other Sakura argued, **"I'm pretty positive you had another name in your old world, so what was it? I'll call you that instead."**_

_Sakura rolled her eyes, as she didn't see what the big deal was. She however chose to answer anyway, but she paused before she did. For a reason that was quite alarming._

_She couldn't remember what her old name was, she was drawing a blank. Now that she thought about it, there was a lot of things from her old life that she was forgetting. She could still remember shows she use to love, music, but she was forgetting things about herself. Her name and what she looked like._

_She couldn't recall what her parents looked like either, everytime she imagined them their faces would be blurred. That, or she would picture Mebuki and Kizashi._

_She couldn't remember her other family members or even her friends, she was forgetting the people she use to know._

_She just didn't know._

_"I... I can't remember..."_

_Other Sakura raised an eyebrow, **"How would you not remember something like that?"**_

_Sakura sighed irritably, "I don't **know** okay?! And I don't care either, it's just a name." She sighed again, "Look, how about this. Since you were apparently here first, you can be..." She trailed off in thought, "... Sakura-ichi." She pointed to herself, "And I can be Sakura-ni, does that suffice?"_

**_"Whatever,"_**_ She muttered, then nodded. **"Yeah... Sakura-ni." **_

_Sakura nodded back, then said. "Now I have a question for you." She said, and Sakura-ichi nodded for her to continue. "If you've been here for so long, why are you only just showing yourself?"_

_Sakura-ichi shrugged, **"I don't know, one minute I can't see anything and the next there's this bright flash. Then I was..." **She put her hands out beside her and looked around. **"Well, here. I was pretty much nowhere before now."**_

_Yeah, this definitely had to have been the result of her hitting her head. Because, before then, she hadn't heard a peep from Sakura-ichi. Ever, almost like she didn't even exist. "Well, that's pretty damn peculiar. Just as she said that, the glow from the moon grew brighter and brighter. Until it was blinding. Startling the two girls._

* * *

Sakura shot up in her bed, looking around to see she was in her room. It was day time, morning most likely, as sunshine shone in through her window. Naturally lighting her room.

_'Was I... dreaming?' _Sakura thought to herself, bringing her knees up to her chest. '_Was that all just some weird dream?'_

She heard a sigh, followed by a voice. **"No, it wasn't Sakura-ni..."**

_'Sakura-ichi!'_ Sakura exclaimed in her head.

**"The one and only."**

So this really was real, her inner Sakura... was the canon Sakura. Well, this ought to be interesting.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Today was the day of Team Seven's first mission, and they were to all meet back at Training Ground Three again. At exactly nine o'clock Kakashi had told them, but Sakura was no fool. He wasn't gonna show up until noon, so she would be there about thirty minutes before.

Instead, she treaded around the village until she finally stumbled upon the barbeque place Team Asuma always ate at. She stepped inside and looked for the familiar group. She spotted them off to the side, sitting with Asuma.

She smiled and made her way over, all of them except Chouji turning to look at her once she got near.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!" Ino enthusiastically greeted, Shikamaru gave a nod and she gave one right back. "What're you doing here?"

"Morning Ino-chan, I was looking for you guys. I had a feeling you'd be somewhere like this." She said back, then her eyes flickered to Chouji. Making Ino giggle, "Hello Chouji-kun."

"Hey there, Sakura-chan!" He said in between bites of his food.

"So, this is Sakura?" Asuma questioned, then held out his hand. "I'm Sarutobi Asuma, it's nice to meet you." She nodded, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Asuma-sensei." She dropped his hand, "You heard about me?"

"From Ino once or twice," He answered.

"Really?" She asked, looking towards her friend. Ino sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"I might have mentioned how jealous I am of you right now." She said, and Sakura tilted her head.

"Jealous? Jealous of what exactly?"

"Of the fact that you get to be on Sasuke-kun's team, it's so unfair!" She exclaimed, then put her hands on her cheeks. "I mean, you get to be with him pretty much _everyday_, you're so lucky!"

"Great, now you got her started." Shikamaru said, along with a roll of his eyes, as he picked at the last bit of food he had in front of him.

Ino huffed, narrowing her eyes at her teammate and longtime friend. "Oh shut up Shikamaru-kun! Sakura-chan _is_ lucky! I mean, she gets to be-"

"On the same team with the coolest, cutest, most perfect guy in the world." Shikamaru drawled out, then shook his head. "I've heard it a million times Ino-chan, I don't think I need a recap." She stuck her tongue out at him, making Sakura laugh.

If Ino really was feeling jealous, then she shouldn't. She had a pretty damn good team right here. **"Yeah, they don't seem too bad. But that one eats too much, does he even chew his food?"**

_'Shhh!'_

**"Hey! Don't shush me, you body thief!"** Sakura ignored her, continuing to talk to the others.

"So, I take it that you all passed?" She asked, and they all nodded.

"But it wasn't easy, it was such a drag." Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms, "By the time we got the bells off of Asuma-sensei, it was nearing nightfall."

"And we started that afternoon," Ino added, "We had to wait until today for Asuma-sensei to take us out, it was so late."

Sakura nodded, she wasn't sure if the bell test was something every Genin team did. But if Team Ten had done it as well, it possibly was. She wondered if it was mandatory. "You did the bell exam too?"

Chouji swallowed all the food in his mouth, before speaking. "What? You mean you guys took that test too, Sakura-chan?" She nodded.

"Yeah, and it only took us four hours to complete." The Ino-Shika-Chou group looked surprised, then hung their heads.

"Wait!" Ino said, picking up her head. "What did Sasuke-kun do? I bet he kicked ass!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes again, and Sakura giggled.

"Yeah he did, we all did. As a team." She'd stopped by there at about ten-thirty, and conversed with them until a little past eleven o'clock. By then it was high time for her to get to the training ground, as she'd told them before she left them.

Once she'd gotten to Training Ground Three, she saw that Naruto and Sasuke stood at least ten feet away from each other. When Naruto saw her approaching, he quickly sprinted to her and engulfed her into an embrace.

"Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed, "Where the heck were you?! Kakashi-sensei said nine o'clock!" He let her go, taking a step back.

Sakura scoffed, "Yeah, and I see that he still isn't here." She pointed out, and Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"Well yeah..." He trailed, then pointed at Sasuke with a scowl. "B-But, I had to stand here alone with _that_ for two hours!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Whatever, like I actually enjoyed breathing the same air as you. You idiot dead last." He said, loud enough for Naruto to hear from his distance.

Naruto whipped around to glare at the Uchiha, baring his teeth. "You damn bastard!"

"Would you two cut it out!" Sakura said, those two fought like a cat and a dog. She's surprised that they hadn't killed each other yet, but she wasn't gonna leave them alone like that again. Next time they might actually get into a fight that turns physical.

They both glared at each other, then looked away. "Anyway, it's pretty obvious this tardy thing is gonna be on the regular. So why meet up at the time he tells up to?" Sakura said.

"... Because he's our sensei, and we have to do what he says?" Naruto stated, and Sakura tapped her chin.

"Well, in other cases sure. But from now on why not just do what I did?" Naruto tilted his head.

"You mean show up late?" He questioned, and Sakura shrugged. Stepping around him and walking towards Sasuke. Naruto followed right behind her.

"It isn't late if he's not there yet, he's been three hours late twice already." She stopped next to Sasuke, "Today'll be three times."

"Oh, I guess you have a point there Sakura-chan."

"Of course she does, dead last." Sasuke said, removing his hands from his pockets and crossing his arms. "It was obvious."

"Shut up!" Naruto shot, "You got here at the same time I did, you bastard!" Sakura sighed irritably, Kakashi had better hurry up and get here.

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

When Kakashi had arrived, he told them all that a black cat had crossed his path. Forcing him to take another route, only another bullshit excuse. They'd all gone to the Hokage Tower, the whole way Naruto was throwing his excitement in their faces.

Talking, wondering out loud, about how cool their mission was going to be. Going on about all of the awesome fights that they were going to be in, the people they were going to save. He even started to make assumptions about having to find a lost artifact.

Honestly, they all stopped listening to the annoying Uzumaki after the first few minutes of his rambling.

Sakura didn't hold it against the young boy, he didn't have a full understanding of how missions were distributed. He thought, regardless of your rank, you just got to do whatever kind you pleased.

But that surely was not the case, they were but Genin. Until that changed the only missions they would be receiving were D-ranks, maybe C if they were lucky.

The look on Naruto's face was absolutely priceless when they got their mission information. Poor thing. "Babysitting?!" He exclaimed, and the Sondaime nodded.

"Yes, the land of fire's Feudal Lord and his wife will be away on business for a while. They need someone to look after their infant son, until their return."

"... That's lame!" Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Iruka said, "You're a Genin, these are the exact missions that ninja of your rank get. Don't complain, if you want something better then you have to work your way up. Gain more experience." Iruka sighed, "You need to learn that things aren't just handed to you because you want them."

Naruto pouted, crossing his arms.

Hiruzen cleared his throat, "Right... well, here is your mission scroll Team Seven." He held it out for Kakashi, who took it.

"Thank you Lord Third," Kakashi said, dipping his head respectfully. Kakashi tilted his head towards the door, signaling them to follow him out. "We all have a pretty long walk to the Feudal Lord's home," He said as they walked down the corridor, "No time to dilly dally."

* * *

XXXXXXXXXXXX

* * *

Things had gone smoothly for a while, the Feudal Lord and his wife we very nice people. When they left their son Hiro was very behaved, giving them no trouble at all. It was because of this that Kakashi thought they could handle everything on their own, so he left the huge home.

But, soon after he left, that was when things began to go downhill. Hiro had one strong pair of lungs, because at the moment he was screaming and crying like there was no tomorrow.

Sasuke was pacing around, bouncing the little baby around in his arms, trying to calm him down. He's nearly dropped him three times already, as he was wriggling about and trying to push Sasuke away from him. And it was starting to get on the dark haired boy's nerves.

His ears were ringing from Hiro hollering in his ear, and he was about ready to dump the brat on Naruto. Regardless of if he wanted to take him or not.

Sasuke came to conclude that he hated babies, they were annoying little shit makers who screamed and cried all the time. Or, at least this one did. And there was nothing 'cute' or 'sweet' about that.

"Can't you do something about that? Make him stop already!" Naruto said over Hiro's wailing, holding his hands tightly over his ears.

Sasuke glared at him, "Idiot, what does it look like I'm doing?!" He said, Hiro shoving at Sasuke's face again. Sasuke grabbed his hand and moved it away, hurriedly wrapping his other arm around him and pulling him closer tightly. That was now the fourth time he nearly dropped him, he wouldn't hold still for anything.

"That's it!" He exclaimed, stepping over to Naruto and shoving Hiro into his lap. Naruto shouting in protest. "You take him, I need a damn break!" He walked over to the couch and laid down, turning over on his side and covering his head with one of the cushions.

Naruto grimaced as he looked down at the crying child, then he sniffed. Suddenly smelling something foul. Naruto slowly picked him up, then held him up closer. Sniffing again, then froze.

"Aw man, he crapped!" He exclaimed, his voice cracking. He scrunched up his nose then turned towards the kitchen door, "Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed. And she slid the door open.

"What is it?" She said over all the noise.

"The baby pooped," She deadpanned, he was calling her over something like that?

**"Idiot." **"Then change him," She said simply, and he frowned.

"But... but he _pooped_ though..."

Sakura groaned, "Naruto-kun, I don't have time for this okay! I'm in the middle of something!" When Hiro began his crying fit, Sakura assumed it was because he was hungry. So she went into the kitchen looking for some formula or baby food, only to find that there was none.

As it turned out, she had to make his food by hand. A certain way at that. There was a long list of the ingredients that she needed, and it was just ridiculous. She had to measure things, cut things, and mash them a certain way. Like plain old baby food just wasn't enough for the kid or something.

But maybe it wasn't, for the Feudal Lord's son apparently. "Get Sasuke-san to help you." And with that, she re-entered the kitchen.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, and before he could even get anything out he flat out told him no. Naruto grumbled, then turned to the kitchen door. "Where are the diapers?"

"In the bag by the door!" He heard Sakura say back, and he picked Hiro up in his arms as he went over to the door. And there was the bag, just like Sakura said.

"I can't believe this," Naruto grumbled, "I'm a ninja now, yet I'm stuck watching some kid?!" He picked up the bag and brought it back towards the living room. "Who needs a ninja for something like this? A _civilian_ could've done this!"

Ninja are not just killing machines, they are also human. They are just like the everyday people who walk the streets, doing jobs such as this prove that. They say 'We're no different from you', and it gives civilians a reason to not be afraid.

In the kitchen, Sakura was slowly cutting something that she'd never even heard of. Earlier that morning was still on her mind, her conversation with Sakura-ichi. Memory of her old life was fading away.

**"I think you're worrying too much," **Sakura-ichi said, **"I mean seriously, hate to say it, but your old life is gone now!"**

_'That doesn't mean I just want to forget my family! Or anything, why should that matter?!'_

**"Because it's behind you! I get if you don't want to forget it, but it's happening! What are you suppose to do about it?" **Sakura knew that Sakura-ichi wasn't trying to hurt her feelings. She was only telling the truth, but that still did hurt a little. Because there really wasn't anything she could do, as far as she could tell.

_'Something...' _She sighed, sitting down the items in her hands.

**"You're damn right you can do something, you can make your new life better. Ensure that your future here doesn't turn out as messed up as it's suppose to."**

_'I **know** that, but-'_

**"But nothing, don't stress so much about it! If it happens it happens, so buck up already Body Thief."**

Sakura sighed again, then Naruto opened the door. "Umm... Sakura-chan?"

"Yes Naruto-kun?" She responded, turning to him.

"I, uh, changed him just like you told me to." He said, shuddering at the memory. "But he's still crying, I don't know what to do and Sasuke-teme won't help me."

She nodded, picking up the bowl of half finished baby food. "I'm on it," Naruto nodded and stepped out, Sakura followed behind.

_'Thank you,'_

**"Humph, well somebody had to talk some sense into you didn't they? Who else if not me?"** Sakura said nothing else, only smiling as she tried to feed the fussy child.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I want to introduce her Inner Sakura without jumping into the wave mission too quickly, so this here was a semi-filler. Hope you liked it anyway, give me all your thoughts and comments in a review!

Sakura-ichi: Sakura one

Sakura-ni: Sakura two

Until next time, my lovely readers!

**Chapter edited: April 13, 2014 (just a little clean up and additions here and there.)**


	7. Chapter seven: To the Land of Waves!

**Author's Note: **Wow, this is the first FFN story I wrote that's reach one-hundred favorites/follows. Thank you all so much, I appreciate you very much! Now, we move into the wave mission. Onward!

**Beta: **Ashura Satoshi (published this one without telling, shhh~)

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto _

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_To the Land of Waves!_

* * *

Weeks had gone by after their first "mission", and they honestly hadn't gotten any better from there. Well... maybe they did get a _little_ better. Anything was better than looking after someone's screaming baby.

They walked dogs, picked weeds out of a woman's herb garden, and picked up trash out of a stream. Those all ended pretty badly for Naruto.

He decided to pick the biggest dog there was to walk, and it ended up dragging him into a mine field.

He got all the weeds from the woman's garden, but apparently didn't know the difference between them and her plants. He ended up pulling out a majority of her herbs... which resulted in the poor boy getting hit a few times.

During their debris pick up, Naruto would've fallen off of the waterfall that was on the end. Had Sasuke not caught him that is.

But that was only the past, right now they were dealing with something that was probably worse than Hiro.

Tora the Cat, the little monster.

"This is Sasuke, arrived at Point B." He said into his mic, to Kakashi.

"This is Sakura, I'm at Point C." She said.

Then there was quite a long pause, then some shuffling could be heard. "T-This is Naruto, arriving at Point A!" He said, sounding a little out of breath.

Kakashi sighed from his spot on a tree branch, crossing his arms. "You're too slow Naruto,"

"Speed it up dead last, before you wreck everything." Sasuke added, and Kakashi spoke before Naruto could say anything in response.

"Sasuke, stop that." He adjusted his much, "Now, do you all see the target?" They all responded with a 'yes', and Kakashi nodded. "Good, now-" He paused, squatting down. "Wait, he's on the move!"

"Which direction?" Sakura asked.

"He's headed East!" Kakashi answered, "Everyone, move in _now_, don't let him escape!"

As soon as their sensei gave the order, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all leaped from their hiding places. Pursuing the animal. They chased and cornered it, but Naruto was the one who got him in the end. Using Shadow Clone jutsu to circle around Tora and grab him.

Sakura smiled, "Target acquired Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-kun got him."

"I saw," Kakashi said as he dropped down next to her. He put his hand on her shoulder, and looked at them all. "Good work team."

"Ha! I got you!" Naruto yelled, and Tora began to freak the hell out. Kicking around, trying to release himself from Naruto's hold. "H-Hey, would you hold still damn it?!"

Tora cat-screeched and managed to turn around in his arms, then began his scratch attack on Naruto's face.

Naruto yelled for them all to help him, Sakura and Kakashi sweat-dropped, and Sasuke looked on in visible amusement.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

They all stood in the Sandaime's office, Naruto's hair was messier than usual and he had bandages on his face. Sakura had cleaned, disinfected, and dressed his scratches after they returned Tora to his owner.

A husky woman, who was in fact the Feudal Lord's wife, who started squeezing the Cat to near death the second he was returned.

**"That was ridiculous, damn Cat had it coming though." **

_'He sure did Sakura-ichi, he sure did.'_

"So, you've completed the mission. It seems it didn't take you very long either, that's good." Hiruzen said, as he read their mission report. He sat it down, folding his hands and looking up at them. "Now let's see, Team Seven's next mission..." He trailed, rubbing his beard. "You can help harvest a farmer's potato crops, do some grocery shopping in a neighboring village, babysit the-"

"No!" Naruto shouted, "No picking potatoes, no grocery shopping, and _definitely_ no babysitting!"

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto, please don-"

"I'm serious!" He said, then turned back to the Hokage. "I'm getting sick of all of these stupid missions, I want something better than _chores_. We're suppose to be ninja, I want a more exciting mission than those! What do you take up for anyway?!"

Everyone was quiet, then Iruka narrowed his eyes. "Naruto, we've been over this! You're still just a-" He paused, when Hiruzen chuckled.

"Well, if that's really what you want. Then alright."

"Wha- h-huh?!" Iruka sputtered, looking at Hiruzen in bewilderment. "Lord Hokage, you can't actually be serious!"

"I am," He said, "If they feel they're ready for a higher rank mission, then so be it." He dug through his desk, and pulled out a mission scroll. "I have a C-rank mission available, it's an escort." He handed it to Kakashi.

His eye scanned the scroll after he opened it, and he looked back at the Sandaime. "A man needs to be escorted back to his home, in the Land of Waves."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes, his name is Tazuna. He lives there as a bridge builder, they're in the middle of building one at the moment. To connect themselves to one of the neighboring lands. He should actually be here shortly." Not soon after he said this, the door behind them opened.

And in walked the drunk looking bearded man himself, taking a swig of his drink. He hiccuped, "Who are they?" He questioned, pointing at the three young ninja. "Don't tell me these brats are bringing me home, I'm suppose to rely on them? They all look like idiots."

Sakura-ichi scoffed, **"Cha! Bitch, and you smell like _whiskey_!"**

_'Pffft!'_

"Especially the one in orange."

"Hey!" Naruto shot, and Sakura put a hand on his shoulder. Making him quiet down and look at her, she smiled at Tazuna.

"True, we are just kids, but these missions are carefully assigned according to ninja-rank. If this is really just a C-rank like you said, then you'll be just fine. It's up our ally if you were being truthful." She said, then Tazuna began to look a little nervous.

"I mean," She continued, "We've only been ninja for roughly a month, Lord Third would never send us on something dangerous. Like, say, an A-rank mission. We're only beginners, that would just be suicide." She explained, shaking her head. Then, he didn't look nervous anymore. Just a little guilty.

**"I can't believe he'd just lie like that..." **

_'Guess he didn't expect to get a bunch of kids as escorts.'_

**"You should always expect the unexpected."**

_'Wise words coming from the voice in my head.'_

**"You're making yourself sound crazy."**

_'Trust me when I say you haven't seen crazy yet.'_

"... Well," Kakashi said, breaking the silence and resting a hand on Sakura's head. "What Sakura says is correct, you're in good hands Tazuna. Not to mention, you've got me here as well." He smiled. "I'm a Jounin, the highest ranking ninja there is to offer."

Tazuna grunted, "Guess I don't have to worry about those snot nosed kids getting me killed then." Who the hell did this bastard think he was, Jesus Christ?

"Alright then team," Kakashi said as he rolled the scroll back up, putting it away. "This is going to be a pretty long mission. The Land of Waves is far away, located in the east of the Land of Fire, and we're going to be travelling there on foot. I estimate it will take us at least a week to get there, and we'll also have to remain there until the bridge is completed. Which could take weeks." He explained, "Remember that while you're packing, we're all to meet at the main gate in two hours. That should be enough time for you."

The three of them nodded, "Yes, sensei!" They said, their tones varying.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

They were all standing at the Village Gate, waiting. Specifically for Naruto, who still hadn't shown up yet.

"Where the hell is this kid?!" Tazuna exclaimed, getting fed up with just standing around. "We don't have time to waste, waiting for that idiot!"

"Tazuna-san, please." Kakashi said, holding up his hands. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Dumbass is nearly three hours late." Sakura sighed.

_'I can't help but feel like this is my fault...'_

**"Why? He's the one who decided not to show."**

_'Because, Kakashi-sensei has a habit of showing up late like this. I gave Naruto the idea of arriving somewhere two-and-a-half hours later than what he says.'_

**"Oh... well then yeah, this _is_ all your fault! You body stealing idiot!" **Sakura-ichi shot, making Sakura narrow her eyes.

"Hey everybody!" Naruto said as he approached, "Guess Kakashi-sensei still hasn't shown up yet huh?"

"I'm right here Naruto," Kakashi said, making Naruto freeze.

"..." Naruto stared, and Tazuna stomped up to him.

"You think this is some kind of joke?!" He grabbed Naruto by the front of his jacket, "I have a bridge to finish, do you not realize how important that thing is to my home?! I can't afford to lose time because you decided to be late!"

"H-Hey, wait a minute! Calm down!" Naruto stuttered, as Kakashi pulled Tazuna off of him.

"Just calm down Tazuna-san, he's here now. We can leave." He turned to the orange-clad ninja, "As for you Naruto, you're always talking about how you're a ninja. Act like one and be more professional than this." He said, then lead Tazuna away.

Naruto was nearly speechless, "Bu-But..." He turned to Sakura, "Sakura-chan! You said-"

"I meant when it's just the three of _us_ waiting for Kakashi-sensei. As in me, you, and Sasuke-san." She explained face-palming, "We're on a mission Naruto-kun, you couldn't have actually thought he'd be late."

He scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. "Well, uh, I kinda did."

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head. "You poor thing."

"We need to go," Sasuke said, as he stepped closer to them. Sakura expected him to make some sort of crack about Naruto getting in trouble, but Kakashi more than likely told him not to. They both nodded and followed him to the others.

Then they proceeded down the path, away from Konoha.

Kakashi asked Tazuna questions about Wave Country, and he was seemingly willing to answer every one of them. Wave Country consisted of several islands that were linked together, and the people were mostly evenly spread out amongst them. There were only two main towns but due to the islands not being very big, most people didn't live too far from them.

The main food source for these islands were through fishing, obviously, though with Gatou shipping companies controlling the Seas, many of the fishing boats had been grounded. Which eventually lead to a food shortage. The shipping company also charged high prices for food that they brought over from the mainland, so it was virtually impossible for the civilian people to afford the imported food. They were in a very unfortunate and dire situation. Which was, as Tazuna had told them all, why the bridge he was building was so important to them. It would help in making things better.

To Sakura, it was slightly odd that he was so willing to tell them about it just like that. The only thing he left out was the fact that there _were_ ninja after his life. Meaning that this definitely not a C-rank like he told the Hokage.

As they were walking, Sakura spotted an all too familiar water puddle. **"Hey, Sakura-ni, is that what I think it is?" **

_'It sure is Sakura-ichi.'_

**"You're gonna let them know about this trap in advance, right?"**

_'You're fucking right I am!' _"Hey, you know what I feel like doing?" She asked aloud, making everyone cease their movement.

"What, Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, and Sakura crossed her arms.

"I feel like jumping in a puddle," Hearing this made Tazuna face palm.

"You can't be serious," He turned to Kakashi, "First that Naruto kid and now this one?" He pointed at Sasuke, "Next thing you know, I'm gonna find out _that_ one's just as stupid." Sasuke shot him a glare, and Kakashi made Tazuna put his arm down.

"I am," She said, then gasped over-dramatically. "And would you look at that, there's a puddle right over there!" She put a finger to her chin, "But wait a minute, what's that doing here? It clearly hasn't rained in _days_, so there shouldn't be any puddles around."

"She's right," Sasuke said as he whipped out a Kunai, "A puddle is the _last_ thing that should be here."

It was then that two men jumped from the puddle, one after the other, both throwing chains at Kakashi - very quickly at that. As soon as they'd wrapped around their sensei, the rouges pulled hard on them. Then that was it for Kakashi, visibly frightening Naruto and Tazuna.

As soon as they were through with him, they turned their attention to Naruto. Who only stood there, shaken and frozen with fear. Sakura was about to do something, but Sasuke acted before she got the chance.

He threw a Kunai at the chain that was headed Naruto's way, knocking it off coarse before it could touch the blonde. The speed from the weapon made the chain get stuck to a tree, the Kunai lodged deep into the trunk and holding it there.

Sasuke smirked, flipping into the air and kicking them both hard in the face. That knocked them both away, but they quickly recovered. One going straight for Naruto again, the other going for Tazuna.

Sakurs acted quickly, jumping in front of Tazuna. Completely prepared to attack the ninja, but then Sasuke got in front of her. Unarmed with his arms outstretched. Before anybody knew what happened however, Kakashi was in front of them. The two attackers unconscious at his feet.

**"Hell no! That white-haired bastard was playing possum!"**

Sakura scoffed, _'He was testing us, he wanted to see if we could handle the situation on our own.'_

Sakura sighed, relaxing. Sasuke turned to her, "You alright?" She nodded, then he turned to Naruto. "What the hell happened to you? The big bad ninja got scared?" He scoffed, "Stupid scaredy-cat."

Naruto looked down, his feelings - or maybe his pride - clearly hurt by Sasuke's words. "Sasuke!" Kakashi exclaimed, a warning tone mixed with his voice. He turned to Naruto, "I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, I didn't think you'd freeze up like that." He looked at his bleeding hand, "You got injured."

Naruto looked at his hand, the blood was running out a little quickly. Forming a tiny puddle on the ground, he forced a smile. "This is nothing..." He trailed, his smile immediately falling.

"It's not nothing," Kakashi argued, "The claw they cut you with was laced with poison. We'll have to turn back to Konoha and get you to a hospital, so they can open that cut and leech the toxin out. For now, just try not to move too much." He turned to the bridge builder, "Tazuna!"

Tazuna jumped a little, "Yeah? W-What is it?"

Kakashi beckoned him over, "Come here," His visible eye narrowed a little, "You and I need to have a chat."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

The rouges were now tightly tied to a tree, and Kakashi sighed. Resting his hands on his hips. He'd explained the situation to those two and questioned their motives. Once all was said, Kakashi sighed. "Alright... this sure is burdening. Guess now that that's done, it's back to the Leaf to cure Naruto."

"No way!" The blonde boy said, pulling out a Kunai and stabbing it into the cut on his hand. Shocking everyone except Sakura.

_'Failed emo attempt!'_

**"What is that suppose to mean?"**

_'Ever heard of Naruto Abridged?'_

**"Is that something from your world?" **Sakura-ichi sighed.

_'Maybe'_

**"Then how the hell could I have heard of it?!"**

_'Exactly, you wouldn't get it.'_

"Idiot, what are you doing?!" Sasuke questioned, then Naruto shot him a look.

"Shut up!" He shouted, "Just-... just shut up, alright?" He said quietly, his gaze dropping to the ground. Sakura watched as his blood spilled out even faster, pooling onto the ground more. "I'm... why am I so... _different_ damn it!" He suddenly shouted, clenching his bleeding fist.

No one said anything, only watching as he slowly lifted it up. The blood dripping down, "No more fear, I'm not gonna be afraid anymore. This is my promise!"

There was silence, then Sakura spoke. "Umm... that's great Naruto-kun, but at this rate you're gonna bleed to death."

"Wait- huh?!" He exclaimed, then began to jump and wave his arm around. "No no no, I can't die yet! I-" Kakashi grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop moving.

"Naruto would you calm down?! You're going to-" He paused, watching as Naruto's deep cut began to heal rapidly on it's own. The power of Kurama's chakra.

"W-What? I'm gonna what?!" Naruto questioned in a panic, and Kakashi dropped his hand.

"Nothing... you're going to be just fine." He said, then Sakura stepped up.

"Is anybody else hurt?" She asked, and everyone looked around at each other.

"... I think everybody's alright." Tazuna answered, and Sakura nodded. That meant she didn't have to heal anybody.

"So, does that mean we should get a move on Kakashi-sensei?" She questioned, and he nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what it means." He put a hand on his chin, "Oh, Sakura, I nearly forgot. You noticed those two very quickly." He said, pointing at the rogue ninja duo. "That was very observant of you, very well done."

Sakura blushed, smiling. "Thank you sensei!" She exclaimed, giddily.

**"Don't get a big head," **

_'Shut up, you're just jealous!'_

"We've already burned enough time here," Kakashi said, "Let's move."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

There was a boat waiting at the coast, to bring them all to the Land of Waves. More specifically, to the island that Tazuna lived on. It was an old, wooden paddle boat.

_'I bet this guy isn't allowed to be doing this.'_

**"Why do you say that?"**

_'Taking into consideration what Tazuna told us all, that's what makes me say that.' _The fog was extremely thick, Sakura could barely even see what was in front of her. That didn't exactly help anything.

"Whoa! Man that boat's _huge_!" Naruto shouted, as the boat slowly made it's way out of the fog.

Sakura flinched, "Shh!" She put a finger to her lips, "Naruto-kun, not so loud! You just yelled in my ear."

"O-Oh! I'm sorry Sakura-chan" Naruto whispered the apology in a hushed tone.

They boarded the boat then set sail to their destination, going underneath a bridge that connected to one of the other islands. The archway on it was tall and large, made specifically for boats pass through. The fog had cleared up nicely and the sun was shinning. The three Genin squinted their eyes at the brightness, sheilding their eyes with their hand as they looked about. They were sailing in some pretty shallow water by the looks of it, and were surrounded by houses that edged out over the water. There were some fairly tall trees here and there also.

"The bridge is just up ahead. It shouldn't be too far now.." The Boatman said to them, as they traveled easily through the calm waters.

The boat soon stopped next to one of the houses, allowing them to get off. There was a walkway that extended from house to house, a place that they could walk down and away from the docking area. What struck Sakura as odd, was the fact that there was no one around. This dock was completely empty, save for the boat that just dropped them off.

**"This is creeping me out, you better watch our back!"**

_'Like you actually have to tell me that.'_

They walked onwards, eventually leaving docks and going into the housing division. Which eventually lead them into a forest.

"Is, uh... is this where you live or something?" Naruto asked, a tremble running through him. He must've felt the eerie feeling too. Tazuna looked down at him.

"No," He answered, shaking his head to further what he said. "It's just better for us to get off right here is all..." He walked up ahead with Kakashi, and the others followed closely behind.

It was coming up, their first face-off with Zabuza. She knew they'd be alright, but the anticipation was nearly suffocating her. **"Would you calm down? I can feel your anxiety, I can feel _everything_ that you're feeling. And it's making me feel nervous too."**

Sakura shook her head, _'Sorry, Sakura-ichi. I can't help it, it's just...'_

**"Hey, just don't worry about it. Kakashi-sensei has our back, everything will be fine. Besides, we can all handle ourselves. We're Konoha ninja!" **This made Sakura giggle, catching the attention of her teammates.

"What's funny Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, and she shook her head.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." What Sakura-ichi had said to her actually made her feel better, but it all went away when she suddenly sensed a chakra signature that didn't belong to any one of them. It was eerie, dangerous, _murderous_.

She sucked in a breath, quickly scanning the forest with both eyes and raising her guard. The others kept walking, as if they hadn't noticed. She looked at Kakashi, trying to read his facial expression. He seemed a little off, he certainly noticed it as well.

Naruto suddenly stopped walking, making the others stop along with him. "Does anyone else feel that?" He asked, and for a second no one else responded.

"... Feel what?" Sasuke finally questioned, he seriously couldn't feel that change in the atmosphere?!

"... Someone's here, watching us." Naruto answer, making Tazuna tense up. He scanned around the forest with narrowed eyes. The second he heard a small rustle in the bushes next to him, he pulled out a Kunai at lightning speed and threw it in that direction. "I got you!" Then there was nothing.

Tazuna was shaking, and Sasuke decided to walk over to what Naruto was aiming for. Moving the bushes aside, he deadpanned. Slowly turning his head to Naruto, "You _really _are some kind of idiot..."

He narrowed his eyes, "What are you talking about bastard?" He jabbed a thumb at himself, "I'm the one who noticed-"

"The _rabbit_." He cut him off, moving the bushes even further apart to show him the proof. "It was just a rabbit you dunce, and you spooked it."

"Gah!" Naruto exclaimed, rushing over and picking up the animal. Hugging it close, "I'm sorry! I'm so so so so sorry Mr. Rabbit, I didn't mean to!"

Tazuna's face turned red in anger, then he shouted. "You got damn _brat,_ what the hell are you trying to do?! Give me a damn heart-attack?!"

Kakashi let out the breath he was holding, "Naruto, Kunai are dangerous weapons. Don't just go tossing them around like that, you could kill someone. Or _something_." He pointed at the bunny, "Like that rabbit."

"I said sorry!" He said, in his defense.

"That rabbit is white," Sakura pointed out, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Rabbits like this only have white fur during the Winter, and that was ages ago..."

Kakashi looked at her, "... She's right..."

Then, suddenly, it was there again. The menacing chakra signature in the trees, just as huge and intimidating as ever. The only one who could match this power closely enough was Kakashi, the three of them stood little to no chance against it in a full-scale fight.

Kakashi tensed, and Sakura caught this. His head whipped around fast, to look behind him. "...K-Kakashi-sensei?" She whispered, her heart starting to beat faster in apprehension.

His eye widened, quickly turning back around to look at them. "Everybody, get down _now_!" He shouted, wrapping an arm around Sakura and throwing himself and her onto the ground. Sasuke doing the same with Naruto. Tazuna was on the ground before Kakashi got it all the way out, shielding his head with his arms.

Something huge and made of metal launched out of the trees, swishing through the air as it turned rapidly. It crashed into the tree nearest to them, digging deep into the wood. If they hadn't reacted in time, that thing could've taken their fucking heads off.

Then in a blur of movement possibly too fast to even follow with the naked eye, there was a man standing on it. A shirtless man in cowhide arm and leg warmers, and a simple pair of grey pants. He slowly turned his head to the side, giving them a little glimpse of his face that you could see beyond the bandages around his mouth.

He let out a dark chuckle, this was what they - well Sakura actually - were expecting. Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Shorter than what I would've liked, unfortunately, but if I had added the Zabuzu fight and stuff then it would've gotten too long. So this would have to do.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you next update! And remember, don't be a ghost reader. Leave me your thoughts, or else I'll be sad -tear-

**Chapter edited: April 22, 2014 **(added more to the end, introduced Zabuza here instead of leaving it for the next chapter.)


	8. Chapter eight: Demon in the Mist

**Author's Note: **The chapter you've been waiting for, and took me ages to write. I'm gonna try to hurry the wave mission along, but I'm not gonna rush it either so don't worry.

**Beta:** Sargent Crash (new)

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto _

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_Demon in the Mist_

* * *

They all continued to stare at the new arrival, and Zabuza stared right back. Practically itching for one of them to make a movement, and Kakashi was the one to do so. He slowly lifted himself from the ground, taking a few brave steps forward, and looked at Zabuza with a hard eye. A look that said he was more than ready for a fight if this situation lead to one.

"You..." He trailed, his voice and demeanor seemingly calm. "I know who you are."

"Oh?" Zabuza asked, with his rough, husky voice. "I know who you are too, Hatake Kakashi." His face moved a little beneath his bandages, signaling that he must have been smirking. "Or should I say, the Copy Ninja?"

"Copy Ninja?" Naruto repeated, then turned to his teacher with a curious look. "What's this guy talking about Kakashi-sensei?"

"More importantly," Sasuke said, clenching his fists tightly as he stood up, glaring at the missing-nin, "Who is he?"

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke, before glaring back up at Zabuza. "He's-"

"Momochi Zabuza," Sakura interjected, making everyone look at her, including Zabuza, "And he's a missing-ninja from Kirigakure, right?" She said, looking at the man.

He chuckled, "Exactly how would a little girl like you, know of a man like me?" He questioned, while the others gazed at her expectantly.

"I've looked through the Bingo book before," Obviously, that was nothing more than a lie. "I saw your face in it, and I read a little information on you. You used to be a member of the Seven Swordsmen. Correct?"

"Hn," He grunted, crossing his arms. "You know your stuff, girl... yes that's correct."

"Who are the Seven Swordsmen?" Naruto asked, and Sakura remained silent; letting Kakashi answer him instead.

"The Seven Swordsmen were an organization, made up of only the greatest blade wielding shinobi of their generation. The very best that Kirigakure can produce." Kakashi explained, all the while keeping his eyes on Zabuza.

Naruto looked up at the Swordsman, clenching his fists. He was about to rush forward, getting ahead of himself as per usual, but Kakashi outstretched his arm. Causing him to stop, "Stay back Naruto," He commanded, as he began to lift his headband off of his left eye. "This is someone who's way out of your league." He opened his eye, revealing the deep red of his Sharingan.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he gasped a little, staring at Kakashi with a mix of pure shock and curiosity. "You leave him to _me_."

Sakura smiled, her cheeks a little pink._'Man... Kakashi is sooooo cool.'_

**"Focus! Now's not the time for that!"**

She shook her head, muttering a small sorry out loud before looking back up at the assassin. Zabuza scoffed, "Is that suppose to intimidate me?" Zabuza said, then stepped off of his sword and onto the tree. He ripped it from the trunk, wood pieces flying everywhere in the process, and hopped down. He held the sword up, pointing it at Kakashi. "Now, I'm gonna need you to hand over that geezer." He said glancing at Tazuna.

"Team, Manji formation!" He exclaimed to the three Genin, and they all knew what it meant. They each pulled out Kunai, Sakura pulling out two, and protectively stood around Tazuna. Sasuke in front with Naruto and Sakura on the sides.

"So, the brats are staying back." Zabuza observed, then a deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Fine by me, I get to fight the Sharingan user one-on-one." He hoisted his blade up onto his shoulder, "What an honor it is."

_'I can't tell if he truly means that, or if he's just being sarcastic...'_

**"Who knows, it could be both."**

Naruto shook his head, "I don't understand, what's this Sharingan stuff?"

Sasuke's scowl deepened, "It's a Doujutsu, a visual one, that resides in the eyes," Sasuke explained to him with a low voice. "It allows the user to see and comprehend any Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, or Taijutsu used by their opponent and then use it against them."

"It also has the power to predict the opponents attacks, so they can either copy or evade them. It also has the power to warp you into a Genjutsu, the level depending on how much one has mastery over the Sharingan." Sakura added, making Sasuke look at her in surprise.

He hadn't expected her to know anything about it, he wondered _how_she knew but now was not the time to be asking questions. They were in pretty deep shit at the moment.

"You really do know your stuff, but there's much more to it than that." Zabuza added, "It can analyze an opponents techniques over all and copy them to the very last detail. In fact, now that I think about it, back in the Assassination Unit of the Hidden Mist we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Hatake Kakashi." He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, "This fight will be all the more sweet."

That was no surprise; the Assassination Unit's missions were nearly nothing more than assassination jobs (hence their name). They were almost similar to Konoha's ANBU, the difference being that ANBU did more than kill people. That was actually one of the things they did the least. Again, no surprise. Since they were the 'kind and loving' village when compared to all of the others, just as Hashirama wished for it to be.

"In the Bingo book, you're listed as the man who copied over a thousand techniques." The assassin pointed out, catching Naruto and Sasuke by surprise. Sakura was aware already, but she was curious about which techniques he had indeed copied. When this was all over, she'd have to get around to that.

"Over... a _thousand_ techniques." Sasuke breathed out.

"Wow," Naruto said, "That's so cool..."

"Stay attentive you guys!" Sakura reminded them, and they immediately turned serious again.

"But, that aside, I've got a job to do. To dispose of that bridge builder you've got over there" His feet slid into a readying stance, "But I suppose you won't let me take him without a fight?"

"That's right," Kakashi answered, "You can go ahead and try, but it isn't gonna be easy."

Zabuza smirked, "Very well," He said, then leaped away from him. In the next instant, a thick fog wrapped around them, making it difficult to see.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "What the hell is this, I can't see anything!"

"There's nothing but water surrounding this island," Tazuna said to him, "Fog passing through here is a normal occurrence."

Sakura shook her head, "That's just the thing, this isn't normal fog. This mist was induced by a water release jutsu. The Hidden in the Mist technique, to be exact." Now, Zabuza could hide himself. But not from Kakashi.

With his Sharingan, he'll be able to track Zabuza's movements. Even with this nearly blinding fog being laced with his chakra, it was possible with the Doujutsu.

"I can't see sensei anymore..." Naruto trailed, slight nervousness in his voice.

"This guy, he seems like he's really strong." Sasuke commented.

"He sure is," Sakura said, "He's the master of the silent killing technique, he can take out any target. No matter how high their guard."

Sasuke gripped his Kunai even tighter, holding it closer to his chest as he began to shake a little. "He's stronger than I thought then..." He said, successfully keeping his voice from stammering.

"Eight points total," Zabuza's voice echoed throughout the fog, everywhere at once it seemed. This... this was much different from watching it on TV, there was no cool soundtrack playing here. So everything was eerily quiet, and it made her feel sick. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, sub clavian artery, kidneys, and finally... the _heart_. Now, which will be my attack point?"

This man knew what he was doing, purposely trying to heighten their fear. Hiding in the thick mist, they couldn't see him and they couldn't even tell where he was from the sound of his voice. He was taunting them, he knew he could cut them all down with ease.. and they were aware of it. So he poked at it.

He was like an animal playing with its food.

She knew this moment was coming better than anyone else, but she was somehow still unprepared for this. She stood as stiff as a board, as if making one wrong move would result in her gruesome death. She didn't want that.

She might end up in Pokemon next.

**"I told you to stop getting so worked up, it's gonna be alright."**

She wanted to believe that, there was a ninety-nine point nine percent chance things would be in fact. But, it was hard to think that way when actually standing here.

The killing intent that was mixed into the fog was intense, suffocating. She felt like she was being smothered by it. Zabuza may have just been toying with them, but behind all that jesting was complete and utter _seriousness_. It could happen any second.

He could make their deaths quick and painless, or slow and excruciating. There were so many things Sakura wanted to do, but all she did was stand there like a statue. Listening to the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.

"Sasuke!" The sound of Kakashi's voice snapped Sakura from her own thoughts, and she turned to Sasuke. He was lowering the point of his Kunai from his neck, she forgot that Sasuke was probably more scared than the rest of them.

What with witnessing what happened to his family and everything, this could've been bringing up memories he wanted to keep repressed.

"Calm down, I won't let him touch you._Any_ of you," He said, making his point very clear. "I'm going to protect you all until my very last breath. I would never allow for my comrades to die, not if I can do something about it."

Kakashi's words, his reassurance, made them calm themselves. They actually felt like they could breath and their hearts returned to their regular beat, "I wouldn't speak so soon," They all froze again, that was Zabuza. His voice was much closer, he was right behind them. Sasuke began to shake again, and Naruto started to hyperventilate a little. Sakura was merely a statue again, "Good night... kiddies."

They all knew who he was talking to, he was gonna kill them. Strike them all down just like they were previously thinking. They could hear the sound of his blade being unlatched from his back, the sound made Sakura move without even thinking.

"Duck!" She shouted at the old man, he didn't need to be told twice. Possibly not even once. She whipped around and launched both of her Kunai into his chest; his closeness and their velocity making them drive deep into his torso. Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna looked on in shock.

"Hrk!" He leaned forward, and they all felt something splash on them. Naruto began to have a panic attack, he was already frightened. Now he just got soaked in blood, except that's not what it was.

Sakura sighed in relief, when the last of the water hit the ground. "It was just a clone," Sasuke said, just as much relief audible in his voice.

"That was quick thinking Sakura," Kakashi said, he was standing much closer to them now. "Good job." Normal she would've flushed at his compliment, but she was still a little freaked out. He could've cut their heads off just now.

**"I said calm down! We've got Kakashi; he won't let us get hurt. Just. Calm. Down."**Sakura-ichi said, then Sakura suddenly felt a sort of warmness wrap around her. It started from her gut, and spread. Her nerves and everything else were completely calm; Zabuza's frightening tactics were all undone. **"Relax..."**

She mentally thanked canon Sakura, and was focused on the matter at hand again. She pulled out another Kunai instead of retrieving the two that were on the ground, she couldn't afford to give him an opening.

They heard Zabuza chuckle darkly, "Had that been the real me, she wouldn't have had the chance to do that. She would've been on the ground bleeding out of her neck, they _all _would've." That mental image made them shiver, but Sakura quickly pushed that thought to the back of her mind.

He was doing this on purpose; if they were stricken with fear then they would be easy targets. That was the way of a Kiri assassin, freeze them with fright then deal the killing blow.

"Stay alert," Kakashi said, "We're only just getting started."

"Oh no," Zabuza said, "We're just getting _finished_." They heard the 'swoosh' of his sword and the sound it made when it came into contact with Kakashi's body. But Kakashi burst into a huge puddle of water, as it was only a water clone.

"Behind you, Zabuza." Kakashi said, as he held a Kunai to the missing-nin's throat.

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping a fist. The fear he felt seemingly gone, at the sight of Zabuza getting 'caught'. "Way to go, Kakashi-sensei!" But it wasn't over, not even close. He had more aces up his arm warmer than that.

"Hm," He hummed, "So you copied my water clone." He smirked, "That's pretty good, but not good enough." He then dissolved into a puddle, another clone.

And now Sakura was getting annoyed, all these fucking clones! She was gonna get a headache at this rate, trying to keep up with all of this. Was anyone really getting ahead in this fight? Or was this some contest to see who can fake the other out the most times?

If the latter was the case, then Zabuza was definitely winning.

It didn't even take a fraction of a second for Kakashi to react, and him and Zabuza were thrown into a Taijutsu battle. Judging from the way his arm muscles would tighten and ripple as well as the sounds the sword would make whenever he swung it, she had to guess that that blade was very heavy. So the fact that it wouldn't fly from his hand whenever he took a swing was nothing less than astonishing.

Their flurry of movements pushed them farther back, until they ended up on top of the lake. Somewhere you did_not_ want to end up if you were fighting a Kiri ninja.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

After a while of their fighting, Zabuza had gained the upper hand and trapped Kakashi inside of a water prison. Leaving the rest of Team Seven on their own. Kakashi had been backing away from Zabuza on purpose, trying to draw him away from Tazuna and the three Genin.

But, his plan backfired; now he was trapped inside Zabuza's jutsu.

Zabuza chuckled, "You know... water clones don't have to be formed on the surface." He pointed out, "They can also be formed under water, and wait there patiently beneath the water until just the right moment to reveal themselves."

She wondered why all he did was keep him in that sphere, if he wanted to he could've filled it with water and drown him. But he didn't, even though killing someone like Kakashi would make him gain vast notoriety. His name would be known everywhere; he'd take him out while he still had the chance. If he cared enough about it that is.

So that left the standing question, why didn't he? Was it because Kakashi wasn't his target? Tazuna was, not them.

A clone rose from the water, stepping up to the three Genin. Even this water clone was giving off Zabuza's menacing vibe. Sasuke's chest was rising and falling a little quickly as his breathing got faster, the same with Sakura and Naruto.

Because the reality of the situation was starting to sink in, Kakashi was incapacitated. He couldn't protect them like he promised them he would; they had to face him now. Well, the clone. But that was all he needed, if he aimed to take them out permanently.

"This prison may be made out of water, but with my chakra mixed in it might as well be a steel cage." He said to the copy ninja, "There's no busting out of here, I'd have to release you myself." He looked over to his clone, "I can finish you off later, I want you to see your team get destroyed."

That did it for Kakashi, "Run!" He shouted, "Take Tazuna and get back, his clone can only be so far away from his original body! If you get far enough away then you'll be safe! You don't have anything to prove, just get away while you still can!" His voice was full of panic, as he was genuinely worried about their safety.

True, the water clone would deteriorate if it ventured too far from its real body, but that wouldn't mean they were in the clear. Sakura had a gut feeling that Haku was hiding somewhere and watching.

"We aren't going anywhere Kakashi-sensei!" She shouted back, Naruto and Sasuke looked at her. "We might just be Genin, but we're also _more_ than that. We're Team Seven, and we're gonna wipe the floor with this guy!" She didn't know where that burst of courage came from, but she had an idea.

She'd have to thank Sakura-ichi later, "Yeah, Sakura-chan's right." He punched his open palm, "This guy's going _down_!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, gripping his Kunai tightly again.

"_No_!" Kakashi argued, "This isn't up for debate, get out of here _now_! I can take care of myself!" Yeah, he could probably get himself out of this no problem. Maybe. But that didn't mean they would listen.

"Pathetic," Zabuza commented, "You think you can take someone like me just because you're ninja? Wearing a Hitai-ite doesn't mean you're strong, it doesn't make you a ninja either. You aren't truly a ninja until you've battled with life and death."

So, he wasn't just using the fear tactic. He was putting them down, trying to make them doubt themselves.

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, suddenly getting brave. "I got this headband because I _am_ a ninja, believe it!" he made a hand sign, "Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Dozens of Naruto clones charged at Zabuza at once, dog piling him. But he knocked every single one off of him easily. They all disappeared in a wave of smoke, the real Naruto skidded across the ground as he flung back by the attack.

"You'll have to do better than shadow clones, if you want to beat me." He warned, as Naruto began to sit up. Sakura ran to him and helped him up, Sasuke told Tazuna to hide before he rushed up to them too.

"I'm serious, leave before you get yourselves hurt. He'll kill you!"

"That isn't an option Kakashi," Sasuke said, "That idea went out the window the second you got caught, he'll just track us down himself once he's through with you. We aren't going anywhere, this guy is ours now." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Zabuza.

Sakura smiled, "Way to go... Sasuke-kun." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and smirked, returning his gaze to Zabuza immediately after.

"That's exactly the _point_, this fight was_over_ the second I got caught! Why won't you all just listen to me?!"

Because they were hard headed twelve year olds.

"We've got two objectives," Sakura said, drawing Naruto and Sasuke closer. "You see where Zabuza's hand is?" They all looked at Kakashi's water cage, seeing the assassin's hand inside. "That's what's keeping the prison up, if he takes it out then the whole thing comes down."

"So, we need to get him to move." Sasuke said.

"But, what about the clone?" Naruto asked, "Don't we have to do something about him first?"

Sakura nodded, "Of course, here's how it's gonna go..."

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Naruto nodded and leaned away from Sakura, Sasuke doing the same. "Guess this means we're ready?" She asked.

"No doubt," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Naruto exclaimed in his usual loud fashion.

Zabuza appeared to be amused, "So, still playing ninja? You brats just still don't get it do you? I had already killed dozens by the time I was your age."

"Zabuza... the Demon of the Hidden Mist." Kakashi said, "Long ago, Kirigakure use to be known as the 'Bloody Mist'."

**"Is this really the time to be giving a history lesson?" **Sakura-ichi said, for the first time in a while. But for once, Sakura ignored her.

"Before a student could become a ninja, they had one final test to complete…" Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat, she knew where he was going with this. "... They had to slaughter everyone in their grade."

Naruto gasped, and Sasuke's eyes widened. "So, you know of the graduation exam?" He looked at the Genin, "Can you imagine, young ninja like you eating together, training together, bonding... only to have to kill each other in the end. You both have the same dream... yet at that point it's either them or you."

"But the exam changed," Kakashi continued. "One year, a boy, not even a ninja yet, approached the class. And without any pause or hesitation… took down over one hundred other students." Sakura gasped right as long with Naruto when she heard this.

She knew Zabuza had done such a thing, but she didn't know he had killed that many children. That... that was just gruesome.

"Yes..." Zabuza trailed, then he snarled. "And it felt _good_!" He charged at them. That caught them off guard, he was calm and talking just a second ago. Now he had a sudden burst of energy and bloodlust. Did talking about death make him like this, or was it the memory of the massacre he committed?

He went straight for Sasuke, kicking him hard in the gut and sending him flying. Sasuke hit the ground hard, clutching his stomach in pain.

Zabuza gripped the hilt of his blade and swung it at Sakura, but Naruto tackled her to the ground before she could get hit. He brought it down, and Naruto quickly rolled them both out of the way. They both jumped back up into standing positions, rushing over to Sasuke to help him.

"Move your hand," She ordered Sasuke, and he did. She placed hers on top of the spot Zabuza kicked him, and her hand warmed and glowed a light green glow. Her Mystical Palm beginning to heal his injury. "Cover us!" She said to Naruto.

He nodded, performing his signature jutsu again. This time, making double the number he did before. "What... are you doing?" Sasuke asked, trying to sit up some more. But Sakura pushed him back down.

"You need to stay still for a second." She said, and after a few more seconds she removed her hand. "How's that?" He sat up, touching his stomach.

"...Better," He turned to her, a curious look in his eyes. "Where did you learn to do that?" Naruto skid up to them on his back, wincing as he stood up.

"No time to talk!" She said, "You guys know what to do."

"Roger!" He pointed at Zabuza, "Not enough for you huh? You want some more?!" He made the hand seal, "Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!" There were at least a hundred Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke both concealed themselves in the center of them all. Rushing forward with all of them.

Zabuza slashed at them as they got close, making them disappear. Sakura came to a halt as she got close, while Sasuke kept running.

While Naruto distracted Zabuza, Sakura began to tie wire string around one of her Kunai. She used a lot of it, and waited for the right moment to throw it. Zabuza slashed another Naruto and it popped away, his sword scrapping the ground.

That was her chance, she threw the Kunai and it went through the hole on his blade. Plunging into the ground, a lot of the left over Narutos ran over and held the wire for her. She wasn't strong enough to on her own.

He began to yank on his sword, adding stress to the wire bringing it closer to its breaking point. She knew it wouldn't last long before she even threw it, it just had to last long _enough_. The Naruto clones hung onto the wire as best as they could, limiting the movement of Zabuza's blade.

Sakura pulled out a bunch of Shuriken, holding them all in between her fingers, and threw them all at once. They spun quickly and whizzed through the air. The clone could've dodged them, but then they would've hit the real Zabuza. So he instead took the blow, "Damn brats.." He muttered, before being reduced to a puddle of water.

"Eat that, you _freak_!" Naruto exclaimed, as Sakura sighed. Now that the clone was taken care if, they had one less problem.

"Hm, those kids aren't as weak as I thought." But, to him, they were still pretty weak. Then it hit him, "Where's the other one?"

"Behind you, Zabuza." Sasuke said, in the same manner Kakashi had. He turned around, seeing Sasuke standing in the waist deep water. He was a little shocked, when could he have...

Sasuke threw a Kunai at him, aiming straight for Zabuza's back. He wouldn't be able to duck out of the way, so he removed his hand from Kakashi's prison and leaped off to the side.

The water sphere Kakashi was trapped in fell apart, from Zabuza no longer inputting chakra, and he was now freed.

Sasuke quickly got out while Kakashi covered him, and once he was safely with his team their fight resumed. Before, they had been using basic Ninjutsu and Taijutsu skills. Now, they seemed as if they were trying to kill each other.

Due to the distance between them, what they were saying couldn't be deciphered. They could hear their voices, that was about it.

The way Kakashi was fighting made him seem like he was pissed, and he probably was. At Zabuza and possibly at himself for getting caught it turn first place. But, it wouldn't happen a second time. That was for certain.

Before any of them could process what had happened, a blast from Water Dragon jutsu shot past them. Kakashi and Zabuza floating over with it, "The only thing left for you is death!" Kakashi shouted, then Senbon flew out of the trees. Hitting Zabuza straight in the neck.

_'I had a feeling Haku was here...'_

**"Seems like that feeling was right."**

Said boy wearing the hunter-nin mask jumped out from his hiding spot, landing near Zabuza in a crouched position. "Thank you," He said, slowly rising up. "I've been tracking him for quite some time now."

Everyone stared at the new arrival while Kakashi squatted down, pressing two fingers to Zabuza's neck. He felt no pulse, "... He's dead." He said, standing back up.

"I can take it from here, I will dispose of him." He said as he hoisted Zabuza up onto his shoulders, he gave them all a nod. "Farewell." And with that, he vanished.

Then there was silence.

"... What the hell was that?!" Naruto hollered, "Who was that guy?!"

"That was a Kirigakure hunter-nin," Kakashi answered, "Their job is to track down missing-nin from Kiri and assassinate them, to protect their village secrets."

Naruto blinked, "But... but that guy didn't seem that much older than we are..."

Kakashi sighed, "That's just how it is in this world," He said as he closed his left eye, pulling his headband back down to cover it. "But it's taken care if now, we still have to take Tazuna home." He started to walk towards them, and he was doing just fine until he started to stumble.

Then he full out collapsed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled out in shock, then Tazuna ran out from his hiding place in the bushes.

"What? What happened? What's going on?!" He said as he hurried over, "He isn't d-dead is he?!" No one answered him, Naruto only got on his knees and tried to shake him awake.

* * *

**Author's Note: **You already know, or at least you should, that Itachi used his Sharingan to show Sasuke what he did to everyone. So, technically, he did witness it. Even though he wasn't physically there when it happened.

I'm not the greatest with fight scenes, sorry lol.

On another Note, I've published another SI called "Darkened Virtue". Where the Self-Insert OC will become the Antagonist of the entire story. If you're interested, give it a read :)

Don't be a ghost reader, see ya later!


	9. Chapter nine: Walking on Watertops

**Author's Note: **Whelp, for once I've got nothing to say other than enjoy this chapter!

**Beta:** Sargent Crash

_© Anime by Masashi Kishimoto_

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_Walking on Watertops_

* * *

They made Naruto make a few more clones to help carry Kakashi the rest of the way to Tazuna's house, when they arrived Tazuna's daughter Tsunami quickly found a futon to lay him down on. Sakura had checked him out not long after he collapsed, before they even got moving again. He had no water in his lungs, proof that Zabuza was in fact giving him a lot of needed air, so he definitely hadn't passed out from that. He did not appear to have any physical injuries on the outside of his body other than some scrapes, so she used Mystical Palm to check him from the inside. No broken bones, and nothing was ruptured.

Sakura now sat near his head, digging through her bag. She pulled out a thick book and flipped it open, quickly turning pages as her eyes scanned over them. Naruto and Sasuke looking on in curiosity. "What are you doing, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, after some moments of silence.

"I'm trying to match up Kakashi-sensei's symptoms to what's in this book," She had checked the flow in his chakra system, and it was damn near empty. On some dangerous levels in fact, he was suffering from a bad case of chakra exhaustion. He hadn't used much jutsu during his brawl with Zabuza, she only remembered him using the Water Dragon jutsu and water clone technique. While those were advanced, Kakashi had large chakra reserves. He should have been able to endure it.

The book was saying the same thing, chakra exhaustion, but it wasn't from an over-use of jutsu. Which left pretty much the only other reason she could muster, his Sharingan. As Kakashi was not a true Uchiha, using the Sharingan to copy Zabuza's attacks was eating away at his chakra at a very fast rate. Had Kakashi's body not have the abnormally large chakra reserves it had, then who knows what could've happened to him. He definitely wouldn't be able to walk on his own for a few days give or take, it would take him a pretty long time for his chakra to get back up to one-hundred percent.

But, then again, she wasn't an expert at this stuff yet. There could have been more wrong with him than she could see, hopefully nothing severe had that been the case. She could speed up his chakra recovery with a chakra transfusion but, again, she wasn't that advanced in medic jutsu. That would be a little risky to attempt, on both ends.

"So... what's his problem?" This time, Sasuke was the one to ask.

"He's just fatigued is all," She answered, closing her medical manual. "All he needs is a lot of rest, then he'll be just fine." Sasuke nodded.

Naruto smiled, "It's a good thing we've got you on _our_ team Sakura-chan!" He blurted, making her chuckle.

She looked at Sasuke, "How's your stomach?"

"It's fine, you know that." He quickly answered, "You already did something about it, remember?"

She shook her head, "That was only enough to take the pain away," She scooted over to him after putting her book down, "Lift up your shirt." She bluntly said, taking both boys a little by surprise.

"... why?" He asked, pulling the hem of his blue shirt down a bit.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "I have to actually _see_ it to know how bad it is. How much chakra I have to put in to actually fix it depends on it's severity." She explained, then he looked down and lifted it up, revealing a purple bruise.

_'Huh, he must be a Banana.'_

**"And you're an oddball..."**

She placed her hand on the bruise, and he flinched from the coldness of her hand. But relaxed when her hand warmed up as she began to heal him, "I'll be done in a minute," She said. And, funny as it was, it actually _had_ only taken a minute. When she removed her hand, the purple bruise was now a very pale yellow. It wasn't healed all the way, but it would unlikely give him any trouble. The rest would heal by itself, given a day or two. "There, all finished."

"Hey, me next!" Naruto exclaimed, making Sakura smile. She moved over to him.

"What can Doctor Sakura do for you today?" She questioned, making him chuckle.

"Well, I think I've got some bruises and scratches and stuff." He said as he unzipped his jacket, then he pulled his shirt all the way off. "See?" She checked his back and front, he didn't have many bruises. Just little ones, those would heal just fine. He did have a lot of scratches, one's that appeared to be fixing themselves already. Because of Kurama's chakra, all of these things would be finished healing on their own given the next half hour.

**"I think he just wanted you to see him without a shirt..."**

_'You know what, I think you might be right for once.'_

**"What do you mean 'for once'?!"**

"Yeah, I see them." She patted his shoulder, "But it isn't anything bad, you'll be just fine Naruto-kun." She said, then he pouted.

"Alright," He muttered, putting his shirt and jacket back on. He looked back at Kakashi, "When do you think he'll wake up?" He said, moving closer and leaning over him.

Sakura tapped her chin, thinking. "Actually, I honestly don't know. I would guess some time later today, but it could take longer than that. Maybe shorter, depending on exactly _how_ fast he replenishes chakra." Your chakra reserves had to be at least twenty-five percent full, or at the very least close to that, for you to stay in consciousness. Kakashi was sort of a different case, he would need probably less than that to actually wake up.

Naruto raised a hand, starting to reach for Kakashi's face. Sasuke's eyes quickly darted over to his hand, "What the hell are you doing?!" He hissed, and Naruto threw him a glare.

"Shut up, Sasuke-teme, before you wake him up." He looked back down at Kakashi, starting to reach for his mask again. "I just want to see something." He couldn't help it, the curiosity was eating away at him, plus he was asleep. Best to take the chance while he still had it.

"You never touch a sleeping Jounin, you idiot!" Sasuke said, and Naruto ignored him.

"Sasuke-kun's right Naruto-kun, I think it's best you don't touch him..." She trailed, and he looked at her next.

"Aw c'mon, you too Sakura-chan?" He whined, "It's not like I'm gonna hurt him, geez."

"Naruto-kun-" Before she could say anything else, Naruto's hand was on Kakashi's mask. Then, to her and Sasuke's surprise, Kakashi's eyes snapped open faster than ever. And before any of them could register what happened, his hand was around Naruto's throat. Choking him.

Sasuke watched, taken back by what was going on, while Sakura quickly went to Naruto's side. "Sensei!" She shouted, "Let him go Kakashi-sensei, it's just Naruto-kun!" She would've grabbed Kakashi's wrist, but that would be a pretty dangerous move. She didn't know what kind of state of mind he was in right now, but he obviously was mistaking Naruto for someone trying to threaten him. So there was no way in fucking hell she was laying her hands on him, "Let him go!" She repeated.

Kakashi blinked, looking over at Naruto to see he still had his hand tightly latched around his throat. Then he quickly released him, Naruto held his throat; gasping for breath. "Well, hello everyone." He said, smiling. "Where are we?" He asked, looking around.

"You tried to kill me just now and _that's_ all you have to say?!" He exclaimed, his voice giving a little squeak.

Kakashi looked at him, "Oh," He rubbed the top of his head. "Right, sorry about that. I guess I don't know what came over me."

"I told you, stupid." Sasuke said, and Naruto scowled at him.

"Shud'up!" He replied.

"We're at Tazuna-san's house," Sakura said, answering her Sensei's question. "How do you feel Sensei?"

"Hmm.." He hummed, "Pretty good, I feel alright."

"Let me check your chakra levels, I want to see how much they've filled up." Must have been quite a lot, if he was awake and talking right now. Kakashi gave her the say-so, and she 'scanned' him with her hands. His chakra was about twenty percent filled, that was good. "You're healing nicely." She complimented.

"And you seem like you're getting good at this," He replied.

She beamed, "Oh, thank you Kakashi-sensei."

**"Big head."**

On the outside, she kept her smile but her eye twitched. _'Shut up!' _Kakashi tilted his head a little at her expression. "Is something the matter, Sakura?"

"No no!" She quickly said, holding her hands up. "Everything's fine!" He didn't really seem convinced, but he dropped it anyway. He started to sit up, but Sakura quickly eased him back down. "Nu-uh Kakashi-sensei," She said, "Don't move, you need rest. It's important if we face Zabuza again, you're the only one on our team who's strong enough to fight him."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Uhh... what are you talking about Sakura-chan? That guy is dead, remember? That weird mask guy killed him."

"The hunter-nin," Sasuke corrected, Naruto muttering a 'whatever'.

She cursed in her head, she kind of didn't mean to say that but oh well. Shit was out there now, "Something seemed a little bit off though, about that hunter-nin." She turned to Kakashi, "You know what I mean, right Sensei?"

Kakashi thought about it, then nodded. "You're right Sakura, there was. A hunter-nin is suppose to destroy the body of their target on site to protect village secrets, and bring back the head as proof of their disposal." Kakashi explained, "That boy... instead, he took all of Zabuza with him."

"Yeah... so?" Naruto asked.

"Don't you see Naruto?" Sakura asked, "He seemed completely different from the average hunter-nin, I mean did you see that weapon he used on Zabuza?" She held up her hands, making gestures. "He was using this long needle, a Senbon."

"Those aren't killing weapons," Kakashi said, since Naruto seemed to still not catch on. "But if you hit someone in the right spot with them, you can immobilize them. Or even make it seem like their dead, when they truly aren't."

Naruto gaped a little, "Wait... you don't mean..."

"Yes," Kakashi said, nodding. "He seemed dead when I checked his pulse, but those Senbon that the hunter-nin threw at him went in his neck. Even though Senbon don't normally kill, they _definitely_wouldn't if that's where you're aiming." His visible eye narrowed, "... Zabuza is still alive."

There was silence, Sakura stared at her lap, Naruto's eyes were narrowed, and Sasuke tightly clenched his fists. "What about that hunter-nin?" Sasuke asked, "Why would he _pretend_ to kill Zabuza?"

"Most likely, they're working on the same side," Kakashi answered, "That's the only reason I can come up with."

Tazuna walked into the room with a smile, then it dropped when he saw the looks on everyone's faces. "What's the matter?"

"Zabuza isn't dead," Kakashi answered, and a horrified look crossed Tazuna's face.

"_What_?!" He hollered, clearly shocked. And even a little scared. Sakura didn't blame him, Zabuza was after his life after all. He probably thought he was safe, only to find out that he really isn't. "B-But, you all told me some masked kid got him! You told me he was dead!"

"He was in a death-like state," Sakura said, "It only _seemed_ like he was dead, he showed all the signs even though he wasn't. It could've fooled anyone."

Tazuna was silent, letting it sink in. "... So then, what's suppose to happen now?"

"Only time can answer that, Tazuna." Kakashi answered.

They all sat in the room together, discussing the Gatou fiasco, when Inari walked in. When he overheard their conversation, he immediately told them they were dumb for thinking they could beat someone like him. That they were all just gonna die in the end, so there was no point in trying anyway. That they may as well just give up.

And, just as it was meant to happen, Naruto yelled at him. Claiming he was nothing more than some dumb kid speaking nonsense, and that he should keep out of it. Leave the Gatou problem to the heroes. That appeared to bother Inari a lot. He yelled back at him, saying that heroes didn't exist, then ran from the room. Tazuna had quickly apologized for his grandson's behavior before following after him.

To say the least, it made dinner pretty awkward. Hearing Inari say that heroes weren't real obviously bothered Naruto a great deal. Naruto wanted to be a hero, in the sense that he wanted to save people and be the one to always come to the rescue. And in a way the Fourth Hokage was _his_ hero, even though he was his Dad (not like he knew it yet), he looked up to him.

It was like he took that as Inari saying he could never be a hero, and that the Fourth was never a hero. It made him a little mad.

It had even irked Sasuke a little, even though he didn't show it. Sasuke's philosophy was "get stronger and never back down." Inari's telling them to just give it all up was going completely against what Sasuke believed in. In Sasuke's mind you had to keep fighting, or else the only thing waiting for you at the end of the road was death.

Once nighttime rolled around, the three Genin were put on guard duty by Kakashi. They'd alternate through the night. Sasuke's shift would be first, then Sakura's, then finally Naruto's. Sakura was asleep a little while after Sasuke went outside.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

_Sakura and Sakura-ichi were both seated directly across from each other in the tall grass, with their legs folded. The full moon gleaming down on them just like the other times._

**_"So, if things go the way they're suppose to... then you know what this mission is going to lead to."_**_ Sakura-ichi said._

_Sakura sighed, "Yeah, Zabuza and Haku's deaths..." She shook her head, "But they don't deserve a fate like that, Gatou cheated them!"_

**_"Maybe not, but wasn't that what taught Team Seven the valuable lesson of what it means to be a ninja? It's what helped Naruto to grow too."_**

_"That isn't a reason to still allow it to happen," She ran a hand through one of her bangs, "Your life is seriously complicated, you know that?"_

_Sakura-ichi shrugged, __**"You decided to steal it,"**_

_"I didn't decide shit!" She argued, "Seriously, why couldn't I be Hinata or something?" She thought about it, turn shook her head. "Nope, fuck that! Then I'd have to deal with an angst Neji, and nearly get killed by him at that." She tapped her chin, and Sakura-ichi started to get annoyed. "What if I was Ino?" She snapped her fingers, "Yeah, Ino!" Sakura-ichi began to growl, a tick mark forming on her forehead. "Her mind techniques are cool as shit-"_

_Sakura-ichi punched her straight in the forehead, making Sakura's head snap back from the impact. __**"Cha! Shut up and stop changing the damn subject!" **__She shouted, while Sakura rubbed her throbbing forehead._

_"You could've just said that, what the hell did you have to hit me for?!" She exclaimed._

**_"Because you're an idiot, now pay attention!"_**_ She said, then crossed her arms. __**"What you should do all depends on what would change if they were left alive, if the timeline ripples would end up being too much then it would be better for this mission to end the way it's meant to. Right?"**_

_Sakura nodded, "Yeah, but I can't tell for sure if something would change. Maybe nothing would."_

**_"You can't know that for sure."_**

_"Well I don't exactly want their lives to end just because I wasn't 'sure' if it was alright or not."_

**_"That's a fair thought,"_**_ Sakura-ichi admitted, __**"I guess this'll take more debating, huh Sakura-ni?"**_

_Sakura nodded, "We've got tim-" Before she could finish, the moon's glow began to grow brighter. Signaling that she was waking up._

**_"Guess that's it for now,"_**_ Sakura-ichi muttered, before white was all Sakura could see._

* * *

"Sakura," Sasuke muttered, as he shook her shoulder. "Sakura, get up." She shifted a little, then moved to face him.

"Sasuke-kun?" She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, "What is it?"

"It's your turn for patrol," He said, standing back up. "You've got three hours on duty, then it's Naruto's turn." He said simply, then walked over to his futon. Sakura watched him as he laid down, then let out a yawn.

She stood up and stretched before she left the room. Once she was outside, she looked around. It was dark, no one was out. She sat down on the ground, then that's when Sakura-ichi spoke.

**"Guess we'll talking later then?"**

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I can't be distracted right now." She said out loud, it was alright to since no one was around. Sakura-ichi seemed to understand, as she was silent the rest of Sakura's patrol time.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

When morning came, Kakashi was insistent on training them. Despite protest from Sakura, the group was set to leave after breakfast. And now they were inside the forest just outside of the housing district, in a clearing.

"Now, training begins." He said, supporting himself on crutches. "But, before you ger to doing that, I'd like to refresh you on what 'chakra' is." He said, then began an explanation on how chakra was one of the most essential aspects of a ninja. And how it was the physical and spiritual energies molded, allowing one to do acts that were otherwise impossible. "And so today, you're going to be climbing a tree."

"Climb... a tree." Sasuke repeated, not believing what he just heard. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," Kakashi answered.

"What the hell does climbing a tree have to do with chakra?" Naruto asked, as the thought sounded very ridiculous.

"It isn't climbing the tree itself that involves chakra," Kakashi corrected, "But _how_ you climb it." To demonstrate, Kakashi walked over to a tree and put his foot on it. Then the other, and soon he started to walk up the trunk. As if he were still on then ground.

Sasuke looked up at him in wonder, while Naruto looked in amazement. "Whoa! How are you _doing_ that?" He exclaimed, after Kakashi stopped under a tree branch. Hanging upside down.

He tilted his head back to look at the blonde. "There's nothing to it, just focus your chakra to the bottom of your feet and step onto the tree. Keep a steady enough flow, then this is possible."

"What's so important about walking on a tree?" Sasuke demanded, crossing his arms. He didn't want to waste his time learning this, when he could be practicing something that's actually relevant to his growth as a ninja.

"Chakra control is very important for a ninja," Sakura answered, "This technique forces you to concentrate chakra to the hardest place on the body, the feet. In theory, once you learn how to do it, it's easier to learn other techniques."

After her explanation, Sasuke appeared to be more interested in the exercise. Kakashi pulled out three Kunai, each one landing in front of them. "Now it's your turn, use that knife to mark where you are able to climb up with your current ability. Then try to make a new mark above that one. You guys aren't skilled enough to climb up by walking, so you'll have to sprint to give yourself a good start. Got it?" Kakashi explained, and they all nodded.

They all made a hand seal, concentrating their chakra until it began to glow beneath their feet. Naruto ripped his knife from the ground with a look of determination, "This'll be a piece of cake!"

"We'll just see about that," Kakashi said, "Begin." They all sprinted up their respective trees, Naruto ran about four steps before the bark broke beneath his foot. He slashed the tree before falling down onto his back.

Sakura was the next to fall, followed by Sasuke, "Isn't easy, now is it?"

Naruto growled, "Shut up, sensei!" He exclaimed, then hopped back up. Him and Sasuke started for their trees again, and Sakura pretended to concentrate. Instead, she began to talk to Sakura-ichi. She had an idea, one that didn't hurt to try. If Sakura-ichi had the power to dispell all of her negative feelings, she wondered if she could help her with chakra control.

_'Hey, I need a favor. Mind helping me out?'_

**"With ****_what_**** exactly?"**

_'My chakra control, I remember you were really good at this. Help me concentrate?'_

**"I'm not even sure if I can do that, but I'll try. You have to help yourself too though!"**

_'I will, promise!' _Sakura spun the Kunai in her hand and raced for the tree, she ended up pretty high. A little more than halfway up, she sat on a branch and marked her spot. She looked down at Naruto and Sasuke, giving a wave while they looked back at her in shock.

"Way to go, Sakura-chan! You're so awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, "How did you get that so fast?!"

_'I didn't expect you to get me all the way up! How did you do that?'_ She just thought she'd give her a little edge, but _this_ was just marvelous!

**"I don't know, I kinda know about this already. It was easy." **There were probably more perks to having canon Sakura in her in her head than just having someone to talk to all the time.

"Well, seems like the girl of the team is the better one of you three." Kakashi said, making Sakura laugh. "Someone isn't gonna be Hokage at this rate." Naruto glared at him, "And, I guess the Uchiha clan isn't as great as you let on." Sasuke glared.

Insulting them to give them a drive, well played Kakashi. Well played.

* * *

**╰（￣▽￣）╭**

* * *

Kakashi had left an hour after their training began, Sakura suggesting that he go back to Tazuna's house for more rest. It wasn't good for him to move around too much. Sakura was now sitting back, watching the two compete with each other.

Naruto glanced over at Sakura with a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he stood up and jogged to her, dropping to his knees once he got close. "Hey, uh, Sakura-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Uhhh..." He trailed, twiddling his thumbs. Ironically making himself look like Hinata, "Can you," He sighed, she already knew what he wanted. Naruto preferred to do things on his own, rather than have someone help him. But he didn't have a lot of patience either, and someone who had it down was right in front of him.

"Can I what?" She asked.

"Well, _you_ know how to do this." He pointed out, "So, c-can you help me out?" Sakura smiled, then looked behind him at Sasuke. He was watching.

"Actually, I have an idea that can help you." Naruto grinned, "And Sasuke-kun too." His smile dropped.

"Aw, what?" He crossed his arms, "He didn't even ask you! Besides, he's probably too 'good' for help anyway."

Sakura stood up, "Sasuke-kun is on this team too Naruto-kun, plus he doesn't have to ask. It's obvious he needs help." He was struggling as much as Naruto, though he had too much pride to admit it. "Sasuke-kun!" She said, walking towards him while Naruto drug himself behind her.

"What?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing a little.

"You seem like you need a hand," She said, and he looked away.

"I'm doing fine..." He said, and then Sakura looked up at his tree.

"Yeah, cause all those scratches spell out 'doing fine'." He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I _said_ I don't need help," He said, then ran for the tree again before she could speak.

"See?!" Naruto said, pointing up at Sasuke. "I knew that bastard was gonna get like that! Just show _me_ what you were talking about Sakura-chan."

"In a minute," She said, as she watched Sasuke hop back down to the ground. She walked closer to him and leaned down, as he was crouched and looking at the ground. "You know, once you learn this trick I wanna show you... then you can run all the way up this tree in one go."

He looked up at her, a little more interested now. He wanted to question how she would know something like that, he half thought she was just messing with him. But so far, whenever Sakura talked of things like this; she really meant it. So, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to at least hear her out.

He sighed, standing up. "Fine, whatever." She smiled, "You better be right..."

"Great! Now, if you'll please move over here, we can get started." She said, waving at them to follow her. They walked over to a river bend that was in the distance, and Sakura turned to them. "Ever heard of the Water Walking technique?"

**"That was a stupid question," **Sakura-ichi said, **"Obviously not, if they didn't even know what the Tree Walking technique was... idiot..."**

"No," Naruto answered, "But it sounds awesome! Is it like the tree walking one?"

Sakura nodded, "Yes, but harder." Naruto's shoulders dropped, and Sasuke had a look on his face that was hard to read. He seemed pretty neutral about the idea, on the inside he was having mixed feelings about it.

"H-How _much_ harder?" Naruto inquired.

"You can be the judge of that," She said, then stepped near the water.

_'Help?'_

Sakura-ichi sighed, **"You're gonna have to learn how to do this on you're own you know."**

_'I know, I know! I will but right now I'm playing the role of sensei, I have to make a point don't I?'_

She sighed again, **"Whatever, fine."**

_'You're the best!' _"Like this," Sakura said, stepping onto the water after flowing chakra to her soles. Naruto and Sasuke watched as Sakura took slow steps across the water. She was wobbling a little, and swaying. As if she would fall over any second. Either Sakura-ichi wasn't helping her as much as the last time, or water walking was harder than she thought. She quickly got back on land after not even a full minute, as she felt herself about to fall in. "Now you try." _'Were you even helping me?'_

**"Only a little, I was half hoping you'd fall in. It would've been funny!"**

_'... You're evil.'_

**"And you can't do anything for yourself." **Just this once, she'd let her have that one. Since she was, in a way, a little right.

"Well, that looks easy!" Naruto said, "I bet I'll get this in no time flat!" Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's comment.

"You said that about the tree walking, yet you failed at that too. Dead last." He said, to remind Naruto of his failure status, and Naruto narrowed his eyes at him.

"Like you should talk, you were doing just as bad as me!" He angrily retorted.

"I made it farther up the tree than you," They had been doing so well, not much back and forth banter after their scare with Zabuza. It obviously wasn't gonna stay that way, but Sakura had hoped the peace would at least last a little bit longer.

"No you didn't, we were tied!" He exclaimed, then pointed at him. "You just don't want to admit that I might be _better_ than you!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Because you aren't, you loser."

"Oh yeah? You won't be saying that once I learn this before you!" Naruto shot, and Sasuke glared even more.

"Whatever, keep dreaming." At the same time, they both focused their chakra then hurried for the water. Then the second they stepped on it, they fell in.

They both stood up quickly, sputtering out a little water and wiping their faces. "This isn't tree walking you guys, hold your horses and take your time." Sakura said. "Water's obviously not a solid." Sasuke appeared to be ignoring her, even though he actually was listening. Naruto nodded at her, and they both tried it again.

**"You should practice too."**

_'But I've got you.'_

**"And that proves my point of you not knowing how to do things yourself, I can help you during emergencies but I'm not gonna help you show off. Get on the water!"**

_'What if I don't want to?'_

**"Then I'm never helping you again, even if our lives depend on it." **Sakura was gonna call her out on a bluff, but she had a nagging feeling she was a bit more serious than she thought.

_'Fine! Geez...' _She sighed walking back over to her teammates, she stepped onto the water. She could stand on it okay-ish, if she didn't move a muscle. But when she took a step she fell. She quickly stood back up, shaking out her hair, then saw Naruto and Sasuke staring at her. "What?" She questioned, "I told you water walking was hard!"

A few hours had gone by since they started, Sakura kept reminding the two boys to take their time. It would slip their minds every now and then, as they still had the goal of learning it before the other. Sasuke seemed like he was coming along just fine, he was still falling in the water (they all were) but he would get in a few days time if he practiced hard enough.

But then again, he was a prodigy. Naruto wasn't, though he didn't have too much trouble trying to keep up with him. But, he _was_ a little bit behind. So, Sakura gave him the idea of using Shadow Clones to help him along. That was one of the reasons why Tobirama invented the jutsu, it helped you learn faster.

"How is that suppose to help me?" He asked, as he removed his soaked headband and shook out his blonde hair.

"Make a clone and I'll show you." Sakura said, and he did just that. The clone popped up next to him and Sakura grabbed it's arm, pulling him away from Naruto a little. "I like Ramen." She whispered in his ear, and he grinned.

"You do?" He asked, but Sakura didn't answer. Instead, turning to the real Naruto.

"Do you know what I told him?" She questioned, and Naruto shook his head. Completely unaware, it was then that Sakura whacked the clone in the back of the head. Making it disappear in a wave of smoke. "How about now?"

"You like Ramen?" He asked, then gasped a little. "Hey! That's what you said isn't it?"

"Ding ding ding!" She said, "You got it, see where I'm going with this clone thing now?"

"Um, well." He crossed his arms, "I know whatever it is they heard when they disappear?" She nodded, telling him to go on. "And this water walking thing, you're saying... I can use the clones to help me learn it. Because..." He thought, "Because, if one of them gets it before me then I'll know it once it's gone?"

"Exactly," She said, hopefully this would make it easier for him. "You wanna give it a try?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!" He shouted, producing about a dozen clones. They all ran for the water.

"Pace yourself!" Sakura reminded, and they skid to a halt. Just on the edge of the water, they all muttered a 'sorry' before carefully stepping onto the water. Some fell in, some stayed on top longer before falling in themselves. Sakura and Sasuke watched from the sidelines, then he looked at her as she walked up to him. "How are you coming along?"

"Fine," He answered, "How did you know about that clone thing?"

She shrugged, "I've read up on a lot of jutsu, that just happened to be one." A little part of him felt like that was a lie, that sounded too convenient. But he let it go anyway, it wasn't like it really mattered. He left her, walking back to the river. Finding a spot that wasn't occupied by all the Naruto clones.

**"Good thinking, giving him that little tip." **Sakura-ichi complimented, **"Ready to give this another try?"**

Sakura shrugged, _'I've got nothing to lose.' _She thought back, taking off her headband like Naruto and going for the water.

* * *

**Author's Note: **If there's any OOCness (other than how bad Naruto and Sasuke are with each other, that's intended) then please let me know. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Love you all :D

Don't be a ghost reader, bye!


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